# filter

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈfɪltə/ · frequency rank #4,449

## Definitions
1. A device which separates a suspended, dissolved, or particulate matter from a fluid, solution, or other substance; any device that separates one substance from another.
2. Electronics or software that separates unwanted signals (for example noise) from wanted signals or that attenuates selected frequencies.
3. Any item, mechanism, device, or procedure that acts to separate or isolate.
4. Self-restraint in speech.
5. A non-empty upper set (of a partially ordered set) which is closed under binary infima (a.k.a. meets).
6. A translucent object placed in the light path of a camera to remove certain wavelengths (colors), or a computer program that simulates such an effect.
7. An appearance-altering digital image effect.

## Etymology
From Middle English filtre, from Medieval Latin filtrum (compare also Old French feutre (“felt; filter”)), from Frankish *filtir, from Proto-West Germanic *felt. See felt. Doublet of phin.

## Easily confused with
- **flyer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filter-vs-flyer)
- **filth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filter-vs-filth)
- **finer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filter-vs-finer)
- **fixer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filter-vs-fixer)
- **flier** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filter-vs-flier)
- **fiver** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filter-vs-fiver)
- **finger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filter-vs-finger)
- **foster** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filter-vs-foster)
- **fitted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filter-vs-fitted)
- **fisher** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filter-vs-fisher)
- **filthy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filter-vs-filthy)
- **fuller** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filter-vs-fuller)
- **folder** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filter-vs-folder)
- **finder** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filter-vs-finder)
- **footer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filter-vs-footer)
- **fitter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filter-vs-fitter)
- **firmer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filter-vs-firmer)
- **fisted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filter-vs-fisted)
- **filtered** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filter-vs-filtered)
- **file** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/file-vs-filter)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ffilter`, `filetr`, `fillter`, `filterr`, `filtre`, `filtter`, `fitler`, `fliter`, `iflter`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/filter