flien

Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic فُلَان (fulān).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flɪːn/

Noun

flien m (plural flejjen, feminine fliena)

1. (usually in the definite) so-and-so, that bloke; a placeholder for a person whose name one cannot or does not want to mention, as in the phrase; "wieħed flien".

Pronoun

flien

1. (with xi) somebody, anybody

   Synonym: xi ħadd

Middle English

Alternative forms

• fleȝhenn, flyyn, fleye, flye, fliȝe, flei, fley, flyen, fleen, flen

Etymology

From Old English flēogan, from Proto-West Germanic *fleugan, from Proto-Germanic *fleuganą. This verb is often conflated with fleen (“to flee”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfliː(ə)n/, /ˈflɛi̯(ə)n/, /ˈfleːn/

Verb

flien (intransitive)

1. To fly; to travel in the air.
2. (of clouds, stars, etc.) To move in the sky.
3. To travel with alacrity or haste; to rush.
4. To shoot or burst; to move rapidly.
5. To fall or sink; to move rapidly down.
6. (figurative) To proliferate; to be disseminated.
7. (rare, of gamebirds) To attack one's quarry or prey.

Conjugation

infinitive	(to) flien, flie
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	flie	fleigh, flow, flew
2nd-person singular	fliest	flowe, flewe, fleigh, flow, flew
3rd-person singular	flieth	fleigh, flow, flew
subjunctive singular	flie	flowe1, flewe1
imperative singular		—
plural2	flien, flie	flowen, flowe, flewen, flewe
imperative plural	flieth, flie	—
participles	fliynge, fliende	flowen, flowe, yflowen, yflowe

Conjugation of flien (strong class 2)

¹Replaced by the indicative in later Middle English.
²Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

• English: fly
• Scots: fle
• Yola: vlee

References

• “flīen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.