Learn Arabic › B2 › فَلّ
فَلّ
rout, defeat (of an army); the scattered remnants left by it /ˈfall/
nounB2#3727 most common
Also: notch, nick (in a blade edge), fugitives, stragglers of a routed force (esp. pl. فُلُول)
Example sentences
السيفُ به فَلّ.
The sword has a notch in it.
رأيتُ فَلّاً في حَدِّ السكين.
I saw a nick in the edge of the knife.
انتهت المعركةُ بفَلِّ جيشِ العدو.
The battle ended with the routing of the enemy's army.
هرب فَلُّ الجيشِ نحو الجبالِ بعد الهزيمة.
The remnants of the routed army fled toward the mountains after the defeat.
اتُّهِمت الحكومةُ الجديدةُ بضمِّ فلولٍ من النظامِ السابق.
The new government was accused of including remnants (feloul) of the former regime.
ظلَّ فَلُّ الجيشِ يتسلَّل بين الأنقاضِ خشيةَ الأسر.
The remnants of the routed army kept slipping through the ruins for fear of capture.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | فَلٌّ | فُلُولٌ |
| Genitive | فَلٍّ | فُلُولٍ |
| Accusative | فَلًّا | فُلُولًا |
| Vocative | يا فَلُّ | يا فُلُولُ |
Word family
فَلَّto notch/blunt a blade; to rout, defeat an army
فُلُولremnants, fugitives of a routed force
مَفْلُولnotched, blunted; routed
انْفَلَّto become blunted or notched; to be routed
Etymology
فَلّ comes from the Arabic triliteral root ف-ل-ل, whose core sense is to blunt or break an edge. As a verb it describes notching a blade, and by extension, breaking up an army's formation, that is, routing it. The noun فَلّ names either the notch itself or the act of routing, and its plural فُلُول denotes the scattered survivors of a defeated force. Arabic belongs to the Semitic family, so no established Indo-European relatives exist for this root.
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