خیل

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic خَيْل (ḵayl).

Pronunciation

 

Readings
Classical reading? xayl
Dari reading? xayl, xēl
Iranian reading? xeyl
Tajik reading? xel

Noun

Dari خیل
Iranian Persian
Tajik хел

خیل • (xeyl)

  1. (historical) horsemen, squadron of cavalry; (by extension) army (in general)
    • c. 1390, Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfiẓ, “Ghazal 408”, in دیوان حافظ [The Divān of Ḥāfiẓ]‎[1]:
      صحن سرای دیده بشستم ولی چه سود
      کاین گوشه نیست درخور خیل خیال تو
      sahn-i sarā-yi dīda bišustam walē či sūd
      k-īn gōša nēst darxwar-i xayl-i xayāl-i tu
      I washed the field of my vision's palace [with tears], but what was the use?
      For this corner is unworthy of the army of my fantasies of you!
      (Classical Persian transliteration)
  2. (Tajik) kind, type, sort
    Synonyms: نوع (now'), گونه (gune), جور (jur)

Derived terms

  • خیلی (xeyli, very, much, many)

Descendants

  • Uzbek: xil (kind, type, sort)
  • Uyghur: خىل (xil, kind, type, sort)
  • Pashto: خېل (xel, clan, tribe)

Further reading

  • Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “خیل”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim