فیل

See also: فيل and قيل

Central Kurdish

فیل

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fiːl/

Noun

Northern Kurdish	fîl

فیل (fîl)

1. elephant (mammal)

Ottoman Turkish

فیل

Alternative forms

• ֆիլ (fil) — Armeno-Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic فِيل (fīl, “elephant”), from Middle Persian pyl (/⁠pīl⁠/), ultimately from Akkadian 𒄠𒋛 (/⁠pīru⁠/). Doublet of پیل (pil, “elephant”).

Noun

فیل • (fil) (definite accusative فیلی (fili), plural فیول (füyûl) or افیال (efyâl))

1. elephant, a mammal of the order Proboscidea, having a trunk, and two large ivory tusks jutting from the upper jaw

   Synonym: پیل (pil)

2. (chess) bishop, the chess piece which moves along diagonal lines and developed from the shatranj alfil ("elephant")

   Synonyms: پیل (pil), سطرنج فیلی (satranc fili)

Derived terms

• سطرنج فیلی (satranc fili, “bishop at chess”)
• فیل خرطومی (fil hortumu, “water spout”)
• فیل دیشی (fil dişi, “ivory”)
• فیلبان (filbân, “mahout, elephant keeper”)
• فیلبند (filbend, “the bishop's check”)
• فیلجی (filci, “mahout, keeper of an elephant”)
• فیلخانه (filhâne, “elephant stable”)
• فیلزهره (filzehre, “boxthorn”)
• فیلكوش (filguş, “kind of flower”)
• فیلكون (filgun, “black, dark”)
• فیلمرغ (filmürg, “turkey”)

Descendants

• Turkish: fil
• → Albanian: fil
• → Laz: ჶილი (fili)
• → Serbo-Croatian: fȉl / фи̏л

Further reading

click to expand

• Barbier de Meynard, Charles (1886) “فیل”, in Dictionnaire turc-français, volume II, Paris: E. Leroux, page 436
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “fil1”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 1589
• Hindoglu, Artin (1838) “فیل”, in Hazine-i lûgat ou dictionnaire abrégé turc-français‎^[1], Vienna: F. Beck, page 347b
• Kélékian, Diran (1911) “فیل”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[2], Constantinople: Mihran, page 916
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1687) “Elephantus”, in Complementum thesauri linguarum orientalium, seu onomasticum latino-turcico-arabico-persicum, simul idem index verborum lexici turcico-arabico-persici, quod latinâ, germanicâ, aliarumque linguarum adjectâ nomenclatione nuper in lucem editum‎^[3], Vienna, column 457
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1680) “فیل”, in Thesaurus linguarum orientalium, Turcicae, Arabicae, Persicae, praecipuas earum opes à Turcis peculiariter usurpatas continens, nimirum Lexicon Turkico-Arabico-Persicum‎^[4], Vienna, column 3567
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “fil”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Redhouse, James W. (1890) “فیل”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[5], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 1403

Persian

Etymology

Middle Persian 𐭯𐭩𐭫 (pyl /⁠pīl⁠/), ultimately from Akkadian 𒄠𒋛 (/⁠pīru⁠/). Doublet of پیل (pil).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [fiːl]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [fiːl]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [fiːl]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [fiːl]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [fil̥]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [fiːl̥]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [fil]

Readings
Classical reading?	fīl
Dari reading?	fīl
Iranian reading?	fil
Tajik reading?	fil

• Audio (Iran):

  (file)

Noun

Dari	فیل
Iranian Persian
Tajik	фил

فیل • (fil) (plural فیل‌ها (fil-hâ) or فیلان (filân))

1. elephant

   Synonyms: پیل (pil), کنجر (kenjar)

2. bishop (chess)

Related terms

• چس فیل (čos-e fil)
• فیل‌مرغ (fīl-murğ)

Descendants

• → 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

See also

Chess pieces in Persian · مهره‌های شطرنج (mohre-hâye šatranj) (layout · text)
شاه (šâh)	وزیر (vazir), فرزین (farzin)	رخ (rox), قلعه (qal'e)	فیل (fil)	اسب (asb)	پیاده (piyâde), سرباز (sarbâz)

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian فیل (fīl), from Arabic فِيل (fīl), from Middle Persian 𐭯𐭩𐭫 (pyl /⁠pīl⁠/). Doublet of پِیل (pīl).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /fiːl/
• Rhymes: -iːl

Noun

فِیل • (fīl) m (Hindi spelling फ़ील)

1. elephant

   Synonyms: پِیل (pīl), ہاتھی (hāthī), ہَسْتی (hastī), گَج (gaj)

   اِس تَرازُو میں بَرابَر ہَیں وہ نیتا ہُوں کِہ فِیل۔ کھاتے ہَیں جَنتا کا حِصَّہ بھی یہ جَنتا کے وَکِیل۔

   is tarāzū mẽ barābar ha͠i vo netā hū̃ ki fīl. khāte ha͠i jantā kā hissa bhī ye jantā ke vakīl.

   The politician and the elephant are equal by this measure / This representative of the people devours even the public treasure

2. (chess) alfil or bishop

   Synonyms: فِیلَہ (fīla), پِیل (pīl)

   سَجے ہُوئے ہَیں پیادَہ و اَسْپ و فِیل تَمام۔ بِچھی ہُوئی ہَے بِساط جَہاں کَہاں گَیا مَیں۔

   saje hūe ha͠i pyāda o asp o fīl tamām. bichī hūī hai bisāt jahā̃ kahā̃ gayā ma͠i.

   All the pawn and knight and bishop (or alfil) are set / Where the chess cloth is spread / Where have I gone?

Derived terms

• فِیل بان (fīl bān, “mahout”)
• فِیل خانَہ (fīl xāna, “elephant stable”)
• فِیل دَنْدان (fīl dandān, “elephant tusk; ivory”)
• فِیل مُرْغ (fīl murġ, “turkey”)
• فِیل پا (fīl pā, “elephantiasis”)
• فِیلی (fīlī, “elephantine”)

References

• “فیل”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Platts, John T. (1884) “فيل”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
• John Shakespear (1834) “فيل”, in A dictionary, Hindustani and English: with a copious index, fitting the work to serve, also, as a dictionary of English and Hindustani, 3^rd edition, London: J.L. Cox and Son, →OCLC