Quranic root
فلن
f · l · n
A conventional placeholder used in place of an unnamed or unspecified individual, especially a person; related usage extends the designation to a particular nonhuman animal.
The root's lexical orientation is substitution by a nonspecific name: فلان serves as a kināyah for a person, while related definite and relational forms support animal designation and reference by association.
- Maqāyīs · row 3650
- Mufradāt · row 1135
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 1
- Quran senses
- 1
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
فُلَان
fulān
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 1 occurrence
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
An unnamed or unspecified human person; “such a one.”
A substitute for a person's proper name, including reference to either a male or a female. In the Quranic occurrence it appears in the accusative construction فُلَانًا خَلِيلًا, referring to the person taken as an intimate friend.
- Lane · entry 34967
- Mufradāt · row 1135
Selected Quran examples
Quran 25:28word 5
“that one”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 25:28فُلَانًاthat one
Broader Classical Arabic meanings
Recorded for this root in the Classical lexicons beyond its Quran usage. These are secondary to the Quran senses above.
Show 2 Classical meanings
الفُلَان
A particular nonhuman animal designated without naming it, such as a particular camel or other beast.
Recorded with the definite article, in constructions such as riding or milking the particular animal. This is distinct from the Quranic human-placeholder use of فُلَانٌ.
- Lane · entry 34967
فُلَانِيّ
A relational adjective derived from فُلَان, referring to someone in relation to an unnamed “such a one.”
The suffix ي renders the form indeterminate; adding the definite article makes it determinate, as in a person identified in relation to such a one.
- Lane · entry 34970
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quran attests only the human-placeholder form in the supplied occurrence; the definite-article animal designation is a separate broader Classical Arabic construction.