# kaffir
## English

* It has been requested that this entry be merged with kafir.

### Alternative forms

* Caffer, caffre, kaffer, Kaffir, Kaffre, kafir, kaphar, kaphir, kafari

### 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: /ˈkæfə/
* (General American) IPA: /ˈkæfɚ/
* Rhymes: -æfə(ɹ)

### Noun

kaffir (countable and uncountable, plural kaffirs)
* (countable, offensive) In Islamic contexts, a non-Muslim. [from 16th c.]
** 1804, Archibald Duncan, The Mariner's Chronicle, section I:He […] put me in imminent danger of my life, by telling the natives that I was a Caffer, and not a Mussulman.
* (countable, offensive) A member of the Nguni people of southern Africa, especially a Xhosa. [from 16th c.]
** 1792, The Analytical Review, Or History of Literature, Domestic and Foreign, on an Enlarged Plan, volume 14:… the Hambonaas, a nation quite different from the Kaffers, having a yellowish complexion […].
* (countable, South Africa, Rhodesia, ethnic slur, offensive, derogatory) A black person. [from 17th c.]
** 1959, Alf Ross, On Law and Justice: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."
** 1971, Naboth Mokgatle, The Autobiography of an Unknown South African: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.'
** 1998, Antjie Krog, Country of My Skull:"… 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.
** 2000 April 9, Squirrel, “SA Silence on Mugabe's actions”, in soc.culture.south-africa‎ (Usenet):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.
* (uncountable, now historical, offensive) A language spoken by the Nguni peoples of southern Africa, especially Xhosa. [from 19th c.]
** 1952, Doris Lessing, Martha Quest, Panther, published 1974, page 73: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.’
* (finance, slang, historical) South African mining shares [from early 20th c.]
** 1907, Truth, volume 62, page 688:Kaffirs bouyant most of last week
* (uncountable) Ellipsis of kaffir corn.
** 1907, Texas Agricultural, Mechanical College System, Bulletin, volumes 93-117, page 5: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.

#### 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

* kaffir beer
* kaffir bread
* kaffir cabbage
* Kaffir Circus
* kaffir corn
* kaffir doctor
* kaffir dog
* kaffir fink
* kaffirgram
* kaffir honeysuckle
* kaffir lily
* kaffir lime
* kaffir melon
* Kaffir Wars
* Kaffraria
* Mine Kaffir

#### See also

* kafir
* nigger
* Kaffir (ethnic slur) in Wikipedia