How to say "file" in Arabic

An honest hedge, but a fun one: malaff, 'file, folder', is a maCCaC place-noun from ل-ف-ف 'to wrap, coil, fold' — the same root behind lifāfa, 'a wrapper'. Mishnaic Hebrew has its own ל-פ-ף, 'to twist, coil' (it survives in מלופף, 'contorted'), and the two roots are traditionally compared, though not every Semiticist calls it proven. Either way the image lines up: a file is something wrapped around its contents, in both languages.