n. [ OE. filace a file, or thread, on which the records of the courts of justice were strung, F. filasse tow of flax or hemp, fr. L. filum thread. ] (Eng. Law) A former officer in the English Court of Common Pleas; -- so called because he filed the writs on which he made out process. [ Obs. ] Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]