What does refile mean?
Refile means to file a document, application, or other material again, usually after it has been returned for correction, amendment, or the addition of required information. Its use is particularly common in legal, patent, governmental, and institutional settings, where a filing may need to be replaced by a corrected version. A person might be instructed to refile an application, refile a claim, or refile an appeal before a specified deadline. The word is transitive: it normally identifies the item being submitted again rather than standing alone. Although “resubmit” is often clearer in general speech, “refile” conveys the specific procedural idea of replacing or repeating an earlier filing. Refile should not be confused with refill, which means to fill a container again. The word is relatively uncommon outside specialist and administrative contexts, but it is useful when describing a filing made in response to a formal request for correction.
verbTo file again, especially an application, document, or legal submission that has been returned for correction or amendment.
- To file a document, application, or other material again, particularly after receiving instructions to correct or resubmit it.
"The applicant was asked to refile the corrected application by Friday."
"The applicant was asked to refile the corrected application by Friday."
"She refiled the appeal after the clerk returned it for additional signatures."
Refile is a modern “again” wrapper around “file,” a word that once described records strung together on a thread.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of refile
Refile is an English re-formation combining the Latin prefix re-, meaning “again” or “back,” with file. File descends through French from Latin filum, meaning “thread,” a reference to the original practice of stringing records together in rows. The same ultimate Latin root underlies words including filament, filiform, profile, and defile, although modern refile simply means to file again.
Related word forms
How refile is actually used
Refile is transitive and normally takes the document, application, or submission being filed again. It is especially associated with legal, patent, governmental, and institutional procedures and is more specialized than the plainer phrase “file again.”
Easily confused with refile
Refile means to submit a document or application again, whereas refill means to fill a container or receptacle again.