Fiches

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Small cards or sheets containing summarized information or data used for reference or filing; thin sheets of microfilm that store miniature photographic reproductions of documents for compact storage; cards or slips used to index or categorize information in libraries or archives
2. Compact index cards or sheets meant to organize data; photographic prints on microfilm designed to hold document images in reduced size; small paper or film elements serving as reference tools in classification systems
3. Sheets or cards presenting brief details for easy lookup; microfilmed records of documents for archival efficiency; individual units used in reference systems to simplify information retrieval

Etymology: The plural of "fiche" is "fiches," and the singular comes straight from French, where "fiche" means a slip, card or note. The French noun descends from the verb "ficher," meaning to fix, drive in or stick, so a fiche was originally something pinned or fixed in place, and the sense of a small card for recording information grew naturally out of that idea of a slip of paper fastened to a file or record. English adopted the word in its card-catalogue and archival sense, and the later microfilm meaning, a sheet of film holding many tiny photographic pages, extended the same notion of a compact, filed sheet to a much smaller scale.

Synonyms: microfiches, cards