flien
Maltese
Etymology
From Arabic فُلَان (fulān).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /flɪːn/
Noun
flien m (feminine fliena)
- (usually in the definite) so-and-so, that bloke; a placeholder for a person whose name one cannot or does not want to mention
Pronoun
flien
- (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)
- To fly; to travel in the air.
- (of clouds, stars, etc.) To move in the sky.
- To travel with alacrity or haste; to rush.
- To shoot or burst; to move rapidly.
- To fall or sink; to move rapidly down.
- (figurative) To proliferate; to be disseminated.
- (rare, of gamebirds) To attack one's quarry or prey.
Conjugation
Conjugation of flien (strong class 2)
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 |
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.