▶ USAGE In South Africa the use of this word is completely taboo, and is indeed actionablein the courts. It is also advisable not to use the word in any of the compounds towhich it gave rise
Word origin
C19: from Arabic kāfir infidel, from kafara to deny, refuse to believe
Kaffir in American English
(ˈkæfər)
noun
1.
a.
a member of any of several Bantu-speaking peoples of S Africa
b.
Xhosa
in these senses, regarded as contemptuous
2. [k-] alt. sp. of
kafir
3. [usuallyk-]; South African
a black African
, a contemptuous term
Word origin
Ar kāfir, infidel < prp. of kafara, to be irreligious