kaffir

== English == === Alternative forms === Caffer, caffre, kaffer, Kaffir, Kaffre, kafir, kaphar, kaphir, kafari coffery, coffree, coffry (obsolete) === Etymology === Ultimately from Arabic كَفَّار (kaffār, “infidel”) or كَافِر (kāfir, “unbeliever”), both from كَفَرَ (kafara, “to cover, to hide”); in some (especially early) uses, via Spanish cafre, Dutch kaffer or other European languages. Doublet of kafir. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkæfə/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈkæfɚ/ Rhymes: -æfə(ɹ) === Noun === kaffir (countable and uncountable, plural kaffirs) (countable, offensive) In Islamic contexts, a non-Muslim. [from 16th c.] (countable, offensive) A member of the Nguni people of southern Africa, especially a Xhosa. [from 16th c.] (countable, South Africa, Rhodesia, Namibia, ethnic slur, offensive, derogatory) A black person. [from 17th c.] (uncountable, now historical, offensive) A language spoken by the Nguni peoples of southern Africa, especially Xhosa. [from 19th c.] (finance, slang, historical) South African mining shares [from early 20th c.] (uncountable) Ellipsis of kaffir corn. ==== Usage notes ==== This word was widely used in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Since the mid-twentieth century it has been regarded as derogatory. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== kafir nigger Kaffir (ethnic slur) in Wikipedia