Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Filament |
FilamentNoun1. A very slender natural or synthetic fiber. 2. The stalk of a stamen. 3. A threadlike anatomical structure or chainlike series of cells. 4. A thin wire (usually tungsten) that is heated white hot by the passage of an electric current. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "filament" was first used: 1594. (references) |
Etymology: Filament \Fil"a*ment\, noun. [French expression filament, from the Latin expression filum thread. See File row.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Industry | Viscose substance produced by silkworn glands. It is extruded by two nozzles placed at the side of the insect's head. The filaments issued are joined together in the secretory tube and form a continuous filament. Source: European Union. (references) |
Electrical Engineering | A threadlike conductor, usually of tungsten, or carbon, which is heated to incandescence by the passage of an electric current. Source: European Union. (references) |
| A hot cathode, usually in the form of a wire or ribbon, that is heated directly by the passage of current through it. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Energy | A coil of tungsten wire suspended in a vacuum or inert gas-filled bulb. When heated by electricity the tungsten "filament" glows. (references) |
Industry | A fiber of definite or extreme length, e. g. silk filament which runs from 300 to 1, 400 and more yards in length. . . Source: European Union. (references) |
| An individual glass fibre of great or indefinite length, made by pulling(attenuating)from a stream of molten glass. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Solar | A mass of gas suspended over the PHOTOSPHERE by magnetic fields and seen as dark lines threaded over the solar DISK. A filament on the LIMB of the sun seen in emission against the dark sky is called a PROMINENCE. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A filament is a fine, thinly spun thread, fiber, or wire.An electrical filament is used to convert electricity into heat and/or light and refers to elements made of some kind of wire. Filaments are commonly found in traditional light bulbs.
The newly invented light bulb was much improved when Thomas Alva Edison discovered that tungsten lasted longer as a filament material than other types of wire.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Filament."
Synonyms: FilamentSynonyms: fibril (n), filum (n), strand (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Connection | Bond, tendon, tendril; fiber; cord, cordage; riband, ribbon, rope, guy, cable, line, halser, hawser, painter, moorings, wire, chain; string; (filament). |
Filament | Noun: filament, line; fiber, fibril; funicle, vein; hair, capillament, cilium, cilia, pilus, pili; tendril, gossamer; hair stroke; veinlet, venula, venule. |
Narrowness Thinness | Adjective: narrow, close; slender, thin, fine; thread-like; (filament); finespun, gossamer; paper-thin; taper, slim, slight-made; scant, scanty; spare, delicate, incapacious; contracted; unexpanded; (expand; ); slender as a thread. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | Filament (2001) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References |
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Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Edison Effect lamp with filament and single plate of platinum foil;1883;{11.000/3}. |  | Caption: Notebook Page Experiment No. 1, Drawing of a Light Bulb with a Horseshoe Filament, Double Page Spread; February 13, 1880; {15.001/125} (jpg). |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "Red glow" by Annette Gulick Commentary: "There is this filament or element that glows red hot inside the back of my monitor. i took this picture of it at night with no flash. i still have not idea what it is, but i liked the way this looked." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | The test uses a nylon filament mounted on a small wand. The filament delivers a standardized 10-gram force when touched to areas of the foot. Patients who cannot sense pressure from the filament have lost protective sensation and are at risk for developing neuropathic foot ulcers. (references) | |
Business | It has been said that raw materials of textile fabrics consist of six types, viz. Cotton, polyester, filament, polyester staple, acrylic and nylon fibers. (references) | |
Cotton cloth accounts for the largest part of the country’s cloth production, followed by cloth made of Polyester Filament Yard (PFY), polyester staple, rayon, acrylic and nylon (NFY). (references) | ||
Economic History | Pakistan | Polyester staple fiber and polyester filament yarn are manufactured locally, but acrylic and viscose staple fibers are imported. (references) |
Political Economy | NIGERIA | Tariffs were reduced significantly to as low as five percent on such items as non-combed cotton, synthetic filament yarn, newsprint, textile and industrial machinery, vehicles, tractors, and chemicals. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Filament" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Filament" is used about 63 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 63 | 42,364 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "filament": amyloid filament ♦ cocoon filament ♦ directly heated cathode filament ♦ disappearing filament pyrometer ♦ filament current ♦ filament fiber ♦ Intermediate Filament Proteins ♦ ruptured filament yarn ♦ vortex filament. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "filament": filament-type, filament-wound. | |
Ending with "filament": mono-filament. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "filament"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | filament, fijez, fije e hollë, pejzë (ligament, sinew). (various references) | |
Arabic | مستودع اللقاح, سليك شعرة, سلك كهربائي (wire), خيط (cord, fiber, fibre, line, string, thread, twist, yarn), الحامل المئبر, الخييط. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | влакно (hair, line), дръжка на тичинка. (various references) | |
Chinese | 絲狀物 , 细丝. (various references) | |
Czech | vlákno (fiber, fibre, grain, staple, strand, string, thread). (various references) | |
Danish | filament, falsk tråd (colour, count, lustre, mixed end, or shade from the adjacent normal threads., twist, wrong end), falsk garn (colour, count, lustre, mixed end, or shade from the adjacent normal threads., twist, wrong end), stoevtraad, kokontraad (bave, cocoon filament), grundfiber, glasfiber (fibreglass), glødetråd (getter), garnforveksling (colour, count, lustre, mixed end, or shade from the adjacent normal threads., twist, wrong end), direkte opvarmet katode (directly heated cathode, directly heated cathode filament, filamentary cathode, filament-type cathode). (various references) | |
Dutch | filament, vezel (fiber, fibre), verwarmingsspiraal (heater, heater wire), verkeerde draad (colour, count, lustre, mixed end, or shade from the adjacent normal threads., twist, wrong end), helmdraad, gloeispiraal, gloeidraadkathode (directly heated cathode, directly heated cathode filament, filamentary cathode, filament-type cathode), gloeidraad (heater, hot wire), elementairdraad, direct verhitte kathode (directly heated cathode, directly heated cathode filament, filamentary cathode, filament-type cathode), cocondraadje (bave, cocoon filament). (various references) | |
Farsi | میله ای(گ.ش.), میله (Axle, Bar, Beam, Gad, Lever, Pivot, Rod, Shaft, Slat, Spike, Stem, Stilt, Style), لیف (Brush), تار (Caliginous, Chord, Dim, Fiber-Fibre, Nebulous, Obscure), رشته (Branch, Catena, Ligature, Rank, Reeve, Sequence, Strand, String, Suite, System, Thread, Tissue, Tract, Train). (various references) | |
Finnish | filamenttikuitu, filamentti (filaments), fibre (strand), syy (account, cause, fault, fibre, ground, occasion, reason), palho, hehkulanka (heater). (various references) | |
French | filament (cocoon filament, directly heated cathode filament, filament fiber, filamentary cathode, filament-type cathode). (various references) | |
German | staubfaden, glühfaden, glühdraht, faden (hair line, leitmotif, strand, string, suture, thread, twine). (various references) | |
Greek | νημάτιο (fillet, moulding), νήμα (clew, clue, crewel, strand, thread, yarn). (various references) | |
Hebrew | חוטון (thin tread), חוט להט. (various references) | |
Hungarian | szál (pile, spear, strand, thread), rost (broiler, fiber, fibre, string). (various references) | |
Indonesian | filamen. (various references) | |
Italian | filamento (thread). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 花糸 , 繊条 , 細糸 , フィールド競技 (face, face sheet, face value, face-card, face-off, fade, fade ball, fade-in, fade-out, fatal, Federation Internationale de Nation Amateur cup, FI, fiance, fiction, field events, fielder's choice, fifty-fifty, figurative, figure, figure skating, Fiji, filaria, filibuster, fill, fill-in, film, film library, film net, filter, filter-bank, filtering, fin, FINA cup, finale, finger, finger bowl, fingering, finish, Finland, fiscal policy, fish, fish meal, fishing, fit, fitness, fitness shoes, fitting, fitting room, fix, fixed, fixer, fjord, FO, phase, Philadelphia, philanthropy, philharmonic, philharmonie, Philippines, Philips, philosophy, physical, physical protection, questionnaire that asks for a demographic profile, vinyl drainpipe with fins). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | フィラメント , さいし (clever man, festival, priest, reconsideration, religious service, ritual, talented man, wife and children), せんじょう (a streak, audacity, battlefield, battleground, cleaning, fan form, forwardness, irrigation, line, linear, rifling, sensational, suggestiveness, washing), かし (apparent death, asphyxiation, being granted, blemish, defect, evergreen oak, Fahrenheit, false tooth, fish market, flaw, granting, imperial grant, lending, loan, lower extremities, noncommissioned officer, pastry, river bank, riverside, song lyrics, the legs, visibility, words of a song). (various references) | |
Korean | 필라멘트. (various references) | |
Manx | snaiean (filanders), fillamad, faast (twist, wring). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ilamentfay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | filamento (barb, carbon, fiber, fibre, thread). (various references) | |
Romanian | filament (fiber, fibre, streamer, thread). (various references) | |
Russian | волокно (fiber, fibre, lint, staple, thread). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | filament (fibril, fibrilla), sijalično vlakno. (various references) | |
Spanish | filamento (strand, thread). (various references) | |
Swedish | glödtråd, ståndarsträng, fiber (fiber, fibre, grain, string, thread). (various references) | |
Thai | เส้นใย (fiber, fibre, fila). (various references) | |
Turkish | filaman, lif (fiber, fibre, fibroid, fibrous, film, staple, string, thread, washcloth), lâmba teli, ince tel. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | волокнина, нитка (funiculus, thread). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | tơ sợi đèn, sợi nhỏ (fibril), dây nhỏ. (various references) | |
Welsh | ffilament. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | fibra, fila, filamentum, fili, filo, filum. (various references) |
| Late Latin | 300-700 | filare. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "filament": filamentary, filamentous, filaments. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "filament": microfilament, monofilament, multifilament, myofilament. (additional references) | |
Words containing "filament": microfilaments, monofilaments, multifilaments, myofilaments, nonfilamentous. (additional references) | |
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"Filament" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Fiametta, filaret, Filimon, Filimone, Filomena, Filomeni, Finalmente, firament, fitament, flament, ilament, Millamant, Nilamani, Pillement, Xiamen. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "filament" (pronounced fi"lumunt) |
| 6 | -l u m u n t | complement, implement, element, parliament, supplement. |
| 5 | -u m u n t | argument, armament, accompaniment, adamant, condiment, impediment, detriment, disarmament, excrement, experiment, increment, instrument, integument, ligament, ornament, orpiment, predicament, rearmament, regiment, rudiment, sacrament, sediment, sentiment, temperament, tenement, testament, tournament, vehement. |
| 4 | -m u n t | aggrandizement, agreement, ailment, alignment, allotment, amazement, amendment, amusement, announcement, annulment, antigovernment, apartment, appeasement, appointment, apportionment, arraignment, arrangement, accomplishment, abandonment, abatement, accouterment, achievement, acknowledgement, acknowledgment, adjournment, adjustment, adornment, advancement, advertisement, advisement, assessment, assignment, assortment, astonishment, atonement, attachment, attainment, banishment, basement, battlement, bemusement, bereavement, betterment, bewilderment, blandishment, bombardment, claimant, Clement, commandment, commencement, commitment, compartment, comportment, concealment, confinement, consignment, containment, contentment, copayment, curtailment, impairment, impeachment, impoundment, impoverishment, impressment, imprisonment, improvement, debarment, debasement, deferment, department, deployment, deportment, derailment, detachment, determent, development, diminishment, disagreement, disappointment, disbarment, disbursement, discernment, discouragement, disenchantment, disenfranchisement, disengagement, disestablishment, disgruntlement, disillusionment, disinvestment, dismantlement, dismemberment, displacement, divestment, dormant, easement, embankment, embarrassment, embayment, embellishment, embezzlement, embodiment, emplacement, employment, empowerment, enactment, encampment, enchantment, encirclement, encouragement, encroachment, endangerment, endearment, endorsement, endowment, enforcement, engagement, enhancement, enjoyment, enlargement, enlightenment, enlistment, enrichment, enrollment, enslavement, entanglement, entertainment, enticement, entitlement, entombment, entrapment, entrenchment, environment, equipment, escapement, escarpment, establishment, estrangement, excitement, extinguishment, figment, formant, fragment, fulfillment, garment, garnishment, government, harassment, incitement, inclement, indictment, inducement, informant, infotainment, infringement, installment, internment, intersegment, investment, involvement, judgement, judgment, maltreatment, management, measurement, micromanagement, misgovernment, misjudgment, mismanagement, misstatement, mistreatment, moment, monument, movement, nongovernment, nonmanagement, nonpayment, nourishment, ointment, outplacement, overpayment, overstatement, parchment, pavement, payment, pigment, placement, postponement, postretirement, prejudgment, prepayment, presentment, procurement, pronouncement, punishment, puzzlement, readjustment, realignment, reappointment, reapportionment, rearrangement, reassessment, reassignment, recruitment, redeployment, redevelopment, reemployment, reenactment, refinement, refreshment, refurbishment, reimbursement, reinforcement, reinstatement, reinvestment, repayment, replacement, replenishment, requirement, resentment, resettlement, restatement, retirement, retrenchment, segment, settlement, shipment, statement, treatment, underdevelopment, underemployment, undergarment, underpayment, understatement, unemployment, wonderment. |
| 3 | -u n t | agent, ambient, ambivalent, ancient, antecedent, antidepressant, antioxidant, apparent, applicant, ardent, argent, arrant, arrogant, absent, absorbent, abstinent, abundant, accelerant, accident, aberrant, abhorrent, abortifacient, accountant, adherent, adjacent, adjutant, adolescent, afferent, affiant, affluent, ascendant, aspirant, assailant, assistant, astringent, attendant, belligerent, beneficent, benevolent, blatant, brilliant, buoyant, celebrant, clairvoyant, client, coefficient, cogent, cognizant, coherent, coincident, combatant, competent, complacent, complainant, complaisant, compliant, component, concomitant, concurrent, confident, confluent, consequent, consistent, consonant, constant, constituent, consultant, contaminant, contestant, continent, contingent, convalescent, convenient, convent, convergent, conversant, coolant, corespondent, cormorant, correspondent, Courant, covenant, Crescent, crosscurrent, current, ignorant, immanent, immigrant, imminent, impatient, impertinent, important, impotent, imprudent, inadvertent, incandescent, decadent, decedent, decent, declarant, decongestant, defendant, defiant, deficient, defoliant, delinquent, deodorant, dependent, depressant, descendant, descendent, despondent, detergent, determinant, deterrent, deviant, different, diligent, discordant, disinfectant, disobedient, dispersant, dissident, dissonant, distant, divalent, divergent, docent, dominant, ebullient, efferent, effervescent, efficient, effluent, elegant, elephant, eloquent, emergent, emigrant, eminent, entrant, equivalent, errant, esculent, evanescent, evident, excellent, exigent, existent, exorbitant, expectant, expectorant, expedient, exponent, extant, extravagant, exuberant, exultant, Fabricant, fervent, flagrant, flamboyant, flatulent, flippant, fluent, fluorescent, fragrant, fraudulent, frequent, gallant, giant, grandiloquent, grandparent, hesitant, hydrant, incessant, incident, incipient, incoherent, incompetent, inconsistent, incontinent, inconvenient, incumbent, indecent, independent, indifferent, indigent, indignant, indolent, indulgent, inefficient, infant, infrequent, ingredient, inhabitant, inhalant, inherent, innocent, inpatient, insignificant, insistent, insolent, insolvent, instant, insufficient, insurgent, intelligent, intercurrent, interdependent, intermittent, intolerant, intransigent, invariant, iridescent, irrelevant, irreverent, irritant, itinerant, jubilant, latent, leant, lenient, lieutenant, litigant, lubricant, lucent, luminescent, luxuriant, magnificent, malevolent, malignant, merchant, migrant, militant, miscreant, monovalent, mordant, mutant, nascent, negligent, noncombatant, nonexistent, nonresident, nonviolent, nutrient, obedient, observant, obsolescent, occupant, odorant, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, operant, opponent, opulent, outpatient, overconfident, oxidant, pageant, parent, participant, patent, patient, peasant, penchant, pendant, penitent, pennant, percipient, permanent, persistent, pertinent, petulant, pheasant, piquant, pleasant, pliant, poignant, pollutant, potent, preadolescent, precedent, predominant, preeminent, pregnant, prescient, present, prevalent, proficient, prominent, propellant, proponent, protestant, provident, prudent, prurient, pungent, pursuant, quadrant, quiescent, quotient, radiant, rampant, reagent, recalcitrant, recent, recipient, recombinant, recurrent, redundant, refrigerant, Regent, registrant, relevant, reliant, reluctant, reminiscent, remnant, repellent, repentant, repugnant, resident, resilient, resistant, resonant, resplendent, respondent, resultant, resurgent, retardant, reticent, reverent, rodent, ruminant, salient, seafront, sealant, semipermanent, Sequent, sergeant, serpent, servant, significant, silent, solvent, somnolent, stagnant, stimulant, strident, stringent, student, subcontinent, subsequent, subservient, succulent, sufficient, supergiant, superintendent, supplicant, suppressant, surfactant, talent, tangent, tenant, tetravalent, tolerant, torrent, transcendent, transient, translucent, transparent, trenchant, trident, triumphant, truant, truculent, tumescent, turbulent, tyrant, undercurrent, unimportant, unpleasant, unrepentant, urgent, vacant, vagrant, valiant, variant, verdant, vibrant, vigilant, violent, virulent, warrant. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-f-i-l-m-n-t" | |
-1 letter: ailment, aliment, inflame, inflate, liftman, liftmen. | |
-2 letters: entail, etamin, famine, fetial, finale, flamen, inmate, lament, maline, mantel, mantle, menial, mental, tamein, tenail, tineal. | |
-3 letters: alien, aline, ament, amine, anile, anime, elain, elfin, elint, email, entia, faint, feint, fetal, filet, final, flame, fleam, flint, flite, inlet, laten, leant, leman, liane, liman, limen, maile, matin. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-e-f-i-l-m-n-t" | |
+1 letter: filaments, fulminate. | |
+2 letters: antifemale, fulminated, fulminates, maleficent, manifestly. | |
+3 letters: filamentary, filamentous, firmamental, interfamily, malefaction, myofilament. | |
+4 letters: effeminately, fraternalism, malefactions, monofilament, myofilaments, semifinalist. | |
+5 letters: craftsmanlike, deformational, flagellantism, fragmentarily, fraternalisms, infinitesimal, informalities, informatively, interfamilial, magnificently, malfunctioned, metafictional, microfilament, monofilaments, multifilament, reformational, reformulating, reformulation, semifinalists, ultrafeminine. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
