Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A non-Muslim person.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun plural The stock-exchange term for South African mine shares.
  • noun An unbeliever; an infidel: applied malevolently by Mohammedans to Christians and pagan negroes.
  • noun One of a South African race, inhabiting parts of Cape Colony, Natal, and neighboring lands: so called originally by the Mohammedan inhabitants of eastern Africa, on account of their refusal to accept the faith of Mohammed.
  • noun The language of the Kafirs, a branch of the South African or Bantu family. It is also called Zulu-Kafir.
  • noun One of a race inhabiting Kafiristan, a mountainous region on the northeast of Afghanistan, who have always maintained their independence and resisted conversion to Mohammedanism.
  • Of or belonging to the Kafirs: as, the Kafir tongue; Kafir customs.
  • Also written Caffer, Caffre, Kaffer, Kaffre.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun South Africa Same as kaffir.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Islam Infidel, pagan, non-believer; a non-Muslim aside from ahl al-kitab (Christians, Jews, etc.).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a member of the Kafir people in northeastern Afghanistan
  • noun an offensive and insulting term for any Black African

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Arabic kāfir, unbeliever, infidel; see giaour.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Arabic كافر (kāfir) denier, concealer.

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Examples

  • The term kafir, in Turkish gavur, in the central lands of Islam, has been used since early times for all non-Muslims, whether monotheists or idolaters.

    Tolerance Among Muslims, Christians, & Jews: An Exchange Ahmad, Imad-ad-Dean 1992

  • The term kafir is often qualified, in both historical and legal texts, by the word "accursed," though not invariably.

    Tolerance Among Muslims, Christians, & Jews: An Exchange Ahmad, Imad-ad-Dean 1992

  • I have pointed out before, a careful study of the word kafir or infidel in the Qur'an will show that it never is used in an unadorned way to refer to non-Muslims in general.

    Informed Comment Juan Cole 2010

  • Shubaylat refused to declare Zarqawi a "kafir"--as the Iraqi Shi`ite guest kept requesting--because he said that he is opposed to the very method.

    Wednesday, May 31, 2006 As'ad 2006

  • The hybrids were developed by crossing sorghums from southern Africa (the so-called kafir type) with others from Central Africa (caudatum types).

    9. Sorghum: Commercial Types 1996

  • The word kuffar appears to be an alternative spelling of kafir, an Arabic word meaning "unbeliever."

    www.startribune.com 2012

  • The word kuffar appears to be an alternative spelling of kafir, an Arabic word meaning "unbeliever."

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2012

  • In the west, as well as in Asia and Africa, including in some Muslim-majority countries, I have repeatedly been called a kafir (disbeliever), a murtad (apostate) or an impostor seeking to adulterate Islam and destroy it from within.

    New Statesman Tariq Ramadan 2010

  • I am calling your kafir yuppie ass to a fight with no rules and we can do this at any number of masjids.

    Umar Lee 2010

  • I am sure that given the change the barbarian untermenchen would have used them without a second thought to exterminate us so called "kafir" in their perverted holy war.

    Archive 2008-02-01 FIDO The Dog 2008

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