طفل

Arabic

Root
ط ف ل (ṭ f l)
5 terms

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tˤifl/

• Audio (Modern Standard Arabic):

  (file)

Noun

طِفْل • (ṭifl) m (plural أَطْفَال (ʔaṭfāl))

1. child (a minor)
   • 1967, “زَهْرَة الْمَدَائِن [Flower of Cities]”, Said Akl (lyrics), Rahbani brothers (music)‎^[1]performed by Fairuz:

     الطِّفْلُ فِي الْمَغَارَة وَأُمُّهُ مَرْيَم وَجْهَانِ يَبْكِيَانِ
     يَبْكِيَانِ لِأَجْلِ مَنْ تَشَرَّدُوا
     لِأَجْلِ أَطْفَالٍ بِلَا مَنَازِل

     aṭ-ṭiflu fī l-maḡāra(t) waʔummuhu maryam wajhāni yabkiyāni
     yabkiyāni liʔajli man tašarradū
     liʔajli ʔaṭfālin bilā manāzil

     The child and his mother Maryam in the cave, two faces crying.
     Crying for those made homeless,
     For children without houses.

2. (collective) children (a minor)
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 22:05:

     وَنُقِرُّ فِي الْأَرْحَامِ مَا نَشَاءُ إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى ثُمَّ نُخْرِجُكُمْ طِفْلًا ثُمَّ لِتَبْلُغُوا أَشُدَّكُمْ

     wanuqirru fī l-ʔarḥāmi mā našāʔu ʔilā ʔajalin musamman ṯumma nuḵrijukum ṭiflan ṯumma litabluḡū ʔašuddakum

     ˹Then˺ We settle whatever ˹embryo˺ We will in the womb for an appointed term, then bring you forth as infants, so that ye may reach your prime. Some of you ˹may˺ die ˹young˺, while others are left to reach the most feeble stage of life so that they may know nothing after having known much.

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 24:31:

     أَوِ الطِّفْلِ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يَظْهَرُوا عَلَى عَوْرَاتِ النِّسَاءِ

     ʔawi aṭ-ṭifli allaḏīna lam yaẓharū ʕalā ʕawrāti n-nisāʔi

     or children who are still unaware of women’s nakedness.

Declension

Declension of noun طِفْل (ṭifl)

singular	basic singular triptote
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	طِفْل ṭifl	الطِّفْل aṭ-ṭifl	طِفْل ṭifl
nominative	طِفْلٌ ṭiflun	الطِّفْلُ aṭ-ṭiflu	طِفْلُ ṭiflu
accusative	طِفْلًا ṭiflan	الطِّفْلَ aṭ-ṭifla	طِفْلَ ṭifla
genitive	طِفْلٍ ṭiflin	الطِّفْلِ aṭ-ṭifli	طِفْلِ ṭifli
dual	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	طِفْلَيْن ṭiflayn	الطِّفْلَيْن aṭ-ṭiflayn	طِفْلَيْ ṭiflay
nominative	طِفْلَانِ ṭiflāni	الطِّفْلَانِ aṭ-ṭiflāni	طِفْلَا ṭiflā
accusative	طِفْلَيْنِ ṭiflayni	الطِّفْلَيْنِ aṭ-ṭiflayni	طِفْلَيْ ṭiflay
genitive	طِفْلَيْنِ ṭiflayni	الطِّفْلَيْنِ aṭ-ṭiflayni	طِفْلَيْ ṭiflay
plural	basic broken plural triptote
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	أَطْفَال ʔaṭfāl	الْأَطْفَال al-ʔaṭfāl	أَطْفَال ʔaṭfāl
nominative	أَطْفَالٌ ʔaṭfālun	الْأَطْفَالُ al-ʔaṭfālu	أَطْفَالُ ʔaṭfālu
accusative	أَطْفَالًا ʔaṭfālan	الْأَطْفَالَ al-ʔaṭfāla	أَطْفَالَ ʔaṭfāla
genitive	أَطْفَالٍ ʔaṭfālin	الْأَطْفَالِ al-ʔaṭfāli	أَطْفَالِ ʔaṭfāli

Descendants

• Maltese: tifel
• → Persian: طفل (tefl)
• → Turkish: tıfıl
• → Urdu: طفل (tifl)

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979), “طفل”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

Egyptian Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic طِفْل (ṭifl).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtˤɪfl]

Noun

طفل • (ṭifl) f (plural اطفال (aṭfāl))

1. child

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic طِفْل (ṭifl).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ˈtifl/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰɪfl]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰɪfl]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰɪfl]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰifl̥]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰefl̥]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰifl]

Readings
Classical reading?	tifl
Dari reading?	tifl
Iranian reading?	tefl
Tajik reading?	tifl

Noun

طفل • (tifl / tefl) (plural طفل‌ها (tifl-hā / tefl-hâ), or اطفال (atfāl / atfâl), Tajik spelling тифл)

1. infant

Related terms

Persian terms derived from the Arabic root ط ف ل (0 c, 3 e)

Further reading

• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934), “طفل”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim
• Dehkhoda, Ali-Akbar (1931–), “طفل”, in Dehkhoda Dictionary Institute, editors, Dehkhoda Dictionary (in Persian), Tehran: University of Tehran Press.

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic طِفْل (ṭifl).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tˤifl/, [ˈtˤɪ.f(ɪ)l]

• Audio (Ramallah):

  (file)

Noun

طفل • (ṭifl) m (plural أطفال (ʔaṭfāl), feminine طفلة (ṭifle))

1. (formal) young child, toddler, baby

See also

• بيبي (bēbi, “baby”)
• ولد (walad, “child; boy”)

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian طفل (tifl), from Arabic طِفْل (ṭifl).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /t̪ɪfl/
• Rhymes: -ɪfl

Noun

طِفْل • (tifl) m (formal plural اطفال, Hindi spelling तिफ़्ल)

1. boy, child

Further reading

• “طفل”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “طفل”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2026.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971), “طفل”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.