kaffir

1. (countable, offensive) In Islamic contexts, a non-Muslim.Examples: "He […] put me in imminent danger of my life, by telling the natives that I was a Caffer, and not a Mussulman."countableoffensive

2. (countable, offensive) A member of the Nguni people of southern Africa, especially a Xhosa.Examples: "… the Hambonaas, a nation quite different from the Kaffers, having a yellowish complexion […]."countableoffensive

3. (countable, South Africa, Rhodesia, Namibia, ethnic slur, offensive, derogatory) A black person.Examples: "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.""; "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.'"; ""… 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."NamibiaRhodesiaSouth-Africacountablederogatoryethnicoffensiveslur

4. (uncountable, now historical, offensive) A language spoken by the Nguni peoples of southern Africa, especially Xhosa.Examples: "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.’"historicaloffensiveuncountable

5. (finance, slang, historical) South African mining sharesExamples: "Kaffirs bouyant most of last week"countablehistoricalslanguncountable

6. (uncountable) Ellipsis of kaffir corn.Examples: "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."abbreviationalt-ofellipsisuncountable