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dossier

[dos-ee-ey, -ee-er, daw-see-ey, -see-er; French daw-syey] /ˈdɒs iˌeɪ, -i ər, ˈdɔ siˌeɪ, -si ər; French dɔˈsyeɪ/
noun, plural dossiers
[dos-ee-eyz, -ee-erz, daw-see-eyz, -see-ers; French daw-syey] /ˈdɒs iˌeɪz, -i ərz, ˈdɔ siˌeɪz, -si ərs; French dɔˈsyeɪ/ (Show IPA)
1.
a collection or file of documents on the same subject, especially a complete file containing detailed information about a person or topic.
Origin of dossier
1875-1880
1875-80; < French: bundle of documents with a label attached to the back or spine, equivalent to dos (< Latin dorsum) back + -ier -ier2
Synonyms
record, report, folder.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018.
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Examples from the Web for dossier
Contemporary Examples
Historical Examples
  • I've studied his dossier, and he's not the kind of man to switch loyalties that easily.

    Security Poul William Anderson
  • I suspect that my dossier must have been interesting reading!

    Memoirs Charles Godfrey Leland
  • When he had found ink and paper he began the interrogation which should help his dossier.

    Aladdin of London

    Sir Max Pemberton
  • Yes, it had been mentioned in a dossier from the Ministry of Justice.

    Aladdin of London

    Sir Max Pemberton
  • "Quite," said Mears; and he laid the Fentiman dossier on the table.

    Mrs. Thompson William Babington Maxwell
British Dictionary definitions for dossier

dossier

/ˈdɒsɪˌeɪ; -sɪə; French dosje/
noun
1.
a collection of papers containing information on a particular subject or person
Word Origin
C19: from French: a file with a label on the back, from dos back, from Latin dorsum
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word Origin and History for dossier
n.

1880, from French dossier "bundle of papers," from dos "back" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin dossum, variant of Latin dorsum "back" (see dorsal). Supposedly so called because the bundle bore a label on the back, or possibly from resemblance of the bulge in a mass of bundled papers to the curve of a back. Old French dossiere meant "back-strap, ridge strap (of a horse's harness)."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Word Value for dossier

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