dossier
Other forms: dossiers
If you’re a fan of spy movies, you’ve probably seen countless scenes in which an intrepid secret agent breaks into a secure government facility in order to steal a dossier, or a collection of files.
Dossier, which emerged in French in the 19th century, is derived from the French word dos, meaning “back.” While the connection between “files” and “backs” isn’t certain, it may pertain to the fact that the labels of dossiers were originally affixed to the back, or spine, of each file. If you speak French, you can apply your knowledge to the pronunciation of this word; the final syllable is pronounced with a long a sound, rhyming with “day.”
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago
Vocabulary lists containing dossier
Words from Round 2 of the 2014 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
In a groundbreaking work of nonfiction, Truman Capote investigates the brutal murder of a small-town Kansas family and the trial of the killers.
Middle schooler Ben Ripley trains to be a junior agent at a top-secret spy school.