خیل

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic خَيْل (ḵayl).

Pronunciation

(Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ˈxajl/

(Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [xájl], [xéːl]
- (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [xéːl]
- (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [xéːl̥]

(Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [xejl̥]

(Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [χél]

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

Noun

خیل • (xayl, xēl / xeyl) (Tajik spelling хел)

(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)
(Tajik) kind, type, sort
Synonyms: نوع (now'), گونه (gune), جور (jur)

Derived terms

خیلی (xaylī / xeyli, “very, much, many”)

Descendants

→ Chagatai: خیل (xyl /⁠xıl⁠/), خل (xl /⁠xıl⁠/)
- Uyghur: خىل (xil, “kind, type, sort”)
- Uzbek: xil (“kind, type, sort”)
→ Pashto: خېل (xel, “clan, tribe; clansman, tribesman; kind, species”)
- → English: khel
→ Turkmen: hil (“quality, property, character; kind, type, sort”)

Further reading

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