Kafiri
/kəˈfɪəri/noun
A historical English term referring to a Kafir or to the Kafiri language and culture of parts of the Hindu Kush.
Did you know?The label Kafiri was applied by Muslim observers to several non-Muslim peoples of the Hindu Kush, but many communities later rejected it as an outsider’s name.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*k-p-r
“To cover, conceal, or hide; the reconstructed root behind later Arabic religious vocabulary.”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
kafara
“He covered or concealed; in religious usage, he denied or rejected belief.”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
kāfir
“An unbeliever or one who rejects Islamic faith; literally associated with concealing or covering.”
Medieval Arabic
Arabic
kāfirī
“Of or belonging to a kāfir; a form used in geographic and ethnographic descriptions.”
18th–19th Century
English
Kafiri
“An English geographical and ethnographic label for peoples and languages of the Hindu Kush, especially before the region’s renaming as Nuristan.”
Modern English
English
Kafiri
“A historical or anthropological term, often considered outdated or potentially offensive when applied to people.”