فيل

See also: فیل, قيل, قبل, قتل, and فتل

Arabic

Etymology

From Middle Persian pyl (/⁠pīl⁠/), from Akkadian 𒄠𒋛 (/⁠pīru⁠/), related to Egyptian ꜣbw

(root of English elephant).

Cognate with Aramaic פִּילָא (pīlā) and Hebrew פיל (píl). Compare also Old Armenian փիղ (pʻił), Persian (pil), Sanskrit पीलु (pīlu).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fiːl/

Noun

فِيل • (fīl) m (dual فِيلَان (fīlān), plural فِيَلَة (fiyala) or فُيُول (fuyūl) or أَفْيَال (ʔafyāl), feminine فِيلَة (fīla))

elephant
- 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 105:1:
  أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحَابِ ٱلْفِيلِ
  ʔalam tara kayfa faʕala rabbuka biʔaṣḥābi l-fīli
  Have thou seen not how thy Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant?
(chess) bishop (use the dual to pluralize)

Declension

Declension of noun **فِيل** (fīl)
singular	basic singular triptote
singular	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	فِيل fīl	الْفِيل al-fīl	فِيل fīl
nominative	فِيلٌ fīlun	الْفِيلُ al-fīlu	فِيلُ fīlu
accusative	فِيلًا fīlan	الْفِيلَ al-fīla	فِيلَ fīla
genitive	فِيلٍ fīlin	الْفِيلِ al-fīli	فِيلِ fīli
dual	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	فِيلَيْن fīlayn	الْفِيلَيْن al-fīlayn	فِيلَيْ fīlay
nominative	فِيلَانِ fīlāni	الْفِيلَانِ al-fīlāni	فِيلَا fīlā
accusative	فِيلَيْنِ fīlayni	الْفِيلَيْنِ al-fīlayni	فِيلَيْ fīlay
genitive	فِيلَيْنِ fīlayni	الْفِيلَيْنِ al-fīlayni	فِيلَيْ fīlay
plural	broken plural triptote in ـَة (-a)‎; basic broken plural triptote
plural	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	فِيَلَة‎; فُيُول‎; أَفْيَال fiyala‎; fuyūl‎; ʔafyāl	الْفِيَلَة‎; الْفُيُول‎; الْأَفْيَال al-fiyala‎; al-fuyūl‎; al-ʔafyāl	فِيَلَة‎; فُيُول‎; أَفْيَال fiyalat‎; fuyūl‎; ʔafyāl
nominative	فِيَلَةٌ‎; فُيُولٌ‎; أَفْيَالٌ fiyalatun‎; fuyūlun‎; ʔafyālun	الْفِيَلَةُ‎; الْفُيُولُ‎; الْأَفْيَالُ al-fiyalatu‎; al-fuyūlu‎; al-ʔafyālu	فِيَلَةُ‎; فُيُولُ‎; أَفْيَالُ fiyalatu‎; fuyūlu‎; ʔafyālu
accusative	فِيَلَةً‎; فُيُولًا‎; أَفْيَالًا fiyalatan‎; fuyūlan‎; ʔafyālan	الْفِيَلَةَ‎; الْفُيُولَ‎; الْأَفْيَالَ al-fiyalata‎; al-fuyūla‎; al-ʔafyāla	فِيَلَةَ‎; فُيُولَ‎; أَفْيَالَ fiyalata‎; fuyūla‎; ʔafyāla
genitive	فِيَلَةٍ‎; فُيُولٍ‎; أَفْيَالٍ fiyalatin‎; fuyūlin‎; ʔafyālin	الْفِيَلَةِ‎; الْفُيُولِ‎; الْأَفْيَالِ al-fiyalati‎; al-fuyūli‎; al-ʔafyāli	فِيَلَةِ‎; فُيُولِ‎; أَفْيَالِ fiyalati‎; fuyūli‎; ʔafyāli

Descendants

→ Azerbaijani: فیل / фил / fil (fil)
→ Judeo-Tat: fil / фил / פאִל (fil / фил / fil)
→ Central Kurdish: فیل (fîl)
→ Middle Armenian: ֆիլ (fil)
- Armenian: ֆիլ (fil)
→ Old Norse: fíll
- Faroese: fílur
- Icelandic: fíll
- ⇒ Old Norse: fílsbein (“ivory”)
  - Icelandic: fílsbein
  - Danish: filsben
→ Ottoman Turkish: فیل (fil), ֆիլ (fil) — Armeno-Turkish
- Turkish: fil
- → Albanian: fil
- → Laz: ჶილი (fili)
- → Serbo-Croatian: fȉl / фи̏л
- ⇒ Ottoman Turkish: فیل دیشی (fildişi, “ivory”)
  - Turkish: fildişi
  - → Romanian: fildeș
  - → Serbo-Croatian: фѝлдиш / fìldiš
  - → Greek: φίλντισι (fílntisi)
→ Persian: فیل (fil)
- → Bashkir: фил (fil)
  - → Yagnobi: фил (fil)
- → Chechen: пийл (piı̇l)
- → Georgian: ჶილი (fili) — Fereydan
- → Hindi: फ़ील (fīl)
- → Kazakh: піл (pıl)
- → Kyrgyz: пил (pil)
- → Northern Kurdish: fîl
- → Pashto: پيل (pil)
- → Tajik: фил (fil)
- → Tatar: фил (fil)
- → Turkmen: pil
- → Urdu: فیل (fīl)
- → Uyghur: پىل (pil)
- → Uzbek: fil
→ Old Spanish: alfil (“bishop (chess)”)
- Spanish: alfil
- → Asturian: alfil
- → Galician: alfil
- → Catalan: alfil
⇒ Arabic: عَظْم اَلْفِيل (ʕaẓm al-fīl, “ivory”)
- → Old Spanish: almalfil
  - Spanish: marfil
  - → Galician: marfil
  - → Catalan: marfil
- → Old Galician-Portuguese: marfil, almafil
  - Portuguese: marfim

References

Jeffery, Arthur (1938) The Foreign Vocabulary of the Qurʾān (Gaekwad’s Oriental Series; 79), Baroda: Oriental Institute, pages 230–231

Chadian Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic فِيل (fīl).

Noun

فيل • (fīl) m (plural فيلى (fayala))

elephant

References

Heath, Judith, Mahadi, Mahamat Zene (2021) Lexique Arabe Tchadien-Français‎^[1] (in French), 11th edition, N'Djamena, Chad: SIL Chad, page 48

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic فِيل (fīl).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fiːl/, [fiːl]
Audio (Ramallah): (file)

Noun

فيل • (fīl) m (plural فيلة (fiyale) or فيولة (fyūle))

elephant

Chess pieces in Arabic · (layout · text)

شَاه (šāh)	وَزِير (wazīr)	رُخّ (ruḵḵ) – قَلْعَة (qalʕa)	فِيل (fīl)	حِصَان (ḥiṣān)	بَيْدَق (baydaq) – جُنْدِيّ (jundiyy)