فیل

See also: فيل and قيل

Central Kurdish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fiːl/

Noun

Northern Kurdish	fîl

فیل (fîl)

1. elephant (mammal)

Ottoman Turkish

Alternative forms

• ֆիլ (fil) — Armeno-Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic فِيل (fīl). Doublet of پیل (pil).

Noun

فیل • (fil)

1. elephant

   Synonym: پیل (pil)

Descendants

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

Persian

Persian Wikipedia has an article on:

فیل

Wikipedia ^fa

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