film
n. · v.-
1 a thin layer (n.) B2 Upper Intermediatea very thin layer of something on a surface.
a thin coating or layer of a substance, often liquid or oily, covering a surface.
ExampleA thin film of oil was floating on top of the water in the puddle.
ExampleThe morning frost had left a delicate film of ice over the windshield, requiring several minutes of defrosting before it was safe to drive.
UsageUsually followed by the preposition 'of'.
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2 to record video (v.) A2 Elementaryto use a camera to record moving images.
to capture moving images on a recording medium, whether digital or analog.
ExampleThey plan to film the wedding ceremony so they can watch it later.
ExampleThe documentary crew spent three months in the rainforest to film the rare birds during their nesting season.
UsageCan be used with or without a direct object.
From Middle English filme, from Old English filmen (“film, membrane, thin skin, foreskin”), from Proto-West Germanic filmīn-, from Proto-Germanic filmīn- (“thin skin, membrane”) (compare Proto-Germanic felma- (“skin, hide”)), from Proto-Indo-European pél-mo- (“membrane”), from pel- (“to cover, skin”). Cognate with Old Frisian filmene (“thin skin, human skin”), Middle Dutch velm, vilm (“fleece, film, membrane”), Old High German felm (“peel, skin, wrap”), Old English felma (in ǣġerfelma (“egg membrane”)). Related also to Dutch vel (“sheet, skin”), Borrowed from Latin vēlum (“a cloth, covering, awning, curtain, veil”). German Fell (“skin, hide, fur”), Swedish fjäll (“fur blanket, cloth, scale”), Norwegian fille (“rag, cloth”), Lithuanian plėvē (“membrane, scab”), Russian плева́ (plevá, “membrane”), Ancient Greek πέλμα (pélma, “sole of the foot”). More at fell. Sense of a thin coat of something is 1577, extended by 1845 to the coating of chemical gel on photographic plates. By 1895 this also meant the coating plus the paper or celluloid.
- Nounfilm
- Nounfilmmaker
- Nounfilmmaking
- Nounmicrofilm
- Adjectiveflimsy