فلان

Compare Classical Syriac ܦܠܢ‎ (plān) and Hebrew פְּלוֹנִי‎ (pəlônî).

• IPA^(key): /fu.laːn/
  • (Kuwaiti Gulf Arabic, Persian Gulf) IPA^(key): /flɑn/

فُلَان • (fulān) m (feminine فُلَانَة‎ (fulāna))

1. A placeholder name for a person, used when a name is not known; a generic name; so-and-so
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 25:28:

     ‏يَـٰوَيۡلَتَىٰ لَيۡتَنِي لَمۡ أَتَّخِذۡ فُلَانًا خَلِيلࣰا‎

     yāwaylatā laytanī lam ʔattaḵiḏ fulānan ḵalīlan

     Oh, woe to me! I wish I had not taken that one as a friend.

• فُلَانَة‎ (fulāna)
• فُلَانِيّ‎ (fulāniyy)
• فُلانٌ وَفُلان‎ (fulānun wafulān) (Twelver Shiism; idiomatic)

• Bashkir: фәлән (fälän)
• Bengali: ফলনা (fôlôna)
• Malay: Si Fulan
• Persian: فلان‎ (folân)
  • → Urdu: فَلاں‎ (falāṉ)
• → Turkish: falan
• Andalusian Arabic: فُلَان‎
  • Old Spanish: fulano, fulán
    • Spanish: Fulano, fulano
      • → Portuguese: fulano
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: foão
    • Portuguese: fuão

From Arabic فُلان‎ (fulān).

• IPA^(key): /fuˈlaːn/

فلان • (fulān) m (feminine فلانة‎ (fulāna))

1. Joe Schmoe, what's-his-name, so-and-so

   ‏فُلان و زُعْطَان و عِلّان‎‎

   fulān u zuʿṭān u ʿillān

   Tom, Dick and Harry

Borrowed from Arabic فُلَان‎ (fulān).

فلان • (folân)

1. so-and-so, such-and-such; a generic placeholder name, used when one does not wish to specify a name.

   Synonym: فلانی‎ (folâni)

   ‏فلان و بهمان‎ ― folân o bahmân ― so and so, one thing or another

   ‏دیروز فلان را دیدم.‎‎

   diruz folân râ didam.

   Yesterday, I saw so and so.

• Often used in conjunction with the native placeholder name بهمان‎ (bahmân), which does not occur without فلان (folân).

فلان • (folân)

1. so and so; such and such; used when one does not wish to specify.

   ‏در فلان تاریخ‎ ― dar folân târix ― at some point or another

• Always used before the noun.