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 fromahl 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
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
				Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word kafir.
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).
 - 
								
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."
 - 
								
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
 
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.