alfil

alfil is masculine in Spanish.

bishop; close ally

“Los alffiles an a ſeer fechos a manera de eleffantes ⁊ castiellos en cima dellos llenos de omnes armados como ſi quiſieſſen lidiar.” — Bishops have to be made as of elephants and castles, on top of which full of armed men, as if they wanted to fight.

Borrowed from Arabic الْفِيل (al-fīl, “the elephant”) via Andalusian Arabic, from Classical Persian پیل (pīl).