Dictionary

kaffir en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈkæfə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈkæfɚ/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio

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.

Meanings

1. (countable, offensive) In Islamic contexts, a non-Muslim.
   • He […] put me in imminent danger of my life, by telling the natives that I was a Caffer, and not a Mussulman. 1804, Archibald Duncan, The Mariner's Chronicle, section I:
2. (countable, offensive) A member of the Nguni people of southern Africa, especially a Xhosa.
   • … the Hambonaas, a nation quite different from the Kaffers, having a yellowish complexion […]. 1792, The Analytical Review, Or History of Literature, Domestic and Foreign, on an Enlarged Plan, volume 14:
3. (Namibia, Rhodesia, South-Africa, countable, derogatory, ethnic, offensive, slur) A black person.
   • "… and today here a white man is calling me a kaffir. This term that I absolutely resented." And that, says Nofomela, is his political motive. 1998, Antjie Krog, Country of My Skull:
   • If you ask a Kaffir why he does so-and-so, he will answer—"How can I tell? It has always been done by our forefathers." 1959, Alf Ross, On Law and Justice:
   • I rang the bell, and a smiling Kafir boy answered it. 1924, Agatha Christie, The Man in the Brown Suit:
   • I once heard him say to the gardener, 'Come along, son.' His wife scolded him saying, 'He's not son, don't call him son, he's a kaffir.' 1971, Naboth Mokgatle, The Autobiography of an Unknown South African:
   • Monkey see, monkey do ... which in this case refers to the baboons in Rhodesia - proves just how vulnerable the whities are in the hands of the kaffirs. 2000 April 9, Squirrel, “SA Silence on Mugabe's actions”, in soc.culture.south-africa (Usenet):
4. (historical, offensive, uncountable) A language spoken by the Nguni peoples of southern Africa, especially Xhosa.
   • This man, seeing a white person enter, moved aside for her, but she saw Joss's eyes on her, and said in kitchen kaffir, ‘No, when you've finished.’ 1952, Doris Lessing, Martha Quest, Panther, published 1974, page 73:
5. (countable, historical, slang, uncountable) South African mining shares
   • Kaffirs bouyant most of last week 1907, Truth, volume 62, page 688:
6. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, uncountable) Ellipsis of kaffir corn.
   alt of kaffir corn
   • This market reports only one or two cars per day, selling by the hundred weight, and at a price a little lower than that of Indian corn. As to the purpose for which the marketed kaffir is used, there is some uncertainty. 1907, Texas Agricultural, Mechanical College System, Bulletin, volumes 93-117, page 5:

Forms

Deriveds

kaffir melon · kaffir corn · kaffir lime · kaffir honeysuckle · kaffir fink · kaffir orange · kaffir cabbage · kaffir beer · kaffir lily · kaffir doctor · kaffir plum · kaffir dog · kaffir bread · kaffirgram

Relateds

kafir · nigger

Translations (12)

sv kaffer (black person) · ru кафр (black person) · hi काफ़िर (black person) · fr cafre (black person) · el κάφρος (black person) · gu કાફર (black person) · hi काफिर (black person) · ca cafre (black person) · da kaffer (black person) · nl kaffer (black person) · fi kafferi (black person) · af kaffer (black person)