An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Feile
Feile, feminine, ‘file,’ from the equivalent Middle High German vîle, Old High German fîla, fîhala (not fĭhala), feminine; corresponds to Anglo-Saxon feól (dialectic variant *fîl), feminine, English file, Dutch vijl, ‘file.’ The Old Icelandic term is þél, feminine, ‘file,’ with an abnormal initial sound; Goth *feihala or *þeihala must be assumed. The form with initial f from Aryan p points to the widely diffused root pik, ‘to scratch,’ akin to Latin pingo, pictor, Old Slovenian pĭsati, ‘to write.’ Yet Old Icelandic þel, from *þîhl, points to Teutonic þinh, equivalent to pre-Teutonic tek, tenk, in Modern High German Dachs; for the interchange of f and þ compare düster (finster), Fackel, Fehme (also Old High German fîn, fîma compared with Low German dîme, ‘heap of corn.’