Afghan

nounproper nounadjectiveattested in dialogue

United Kingdom//ˈæfˌɡæn//
United Kingdom//ˈæfɡən//
United Kingdom//ˈæf(ˌ)ɡɑːn//

A native or inhabitant of Afghanistan; a person of Afghan citizenship or nationality and their descendants.

noun

1
A native or inhabitant of Afghanistan; a person of Afghan citizenship or nationality and their descendants.
Four cases of measles – a highly contagious virus – have also been discovered among Afghans who recently arrived in the US, prompting the administration to temporarily pause flights of Afghan refugees to the US.
2
datedA person of Pashtun ethnicity.
3
Synonym of Afghan rug.
4
Synonym of Afghan Hound.
5
Synonym of Afghan coat.
6
Variant of afghanAlternative letter-case form of afghan (“crocheted or knitted blanket or throw”)
7
Variant of afghanAlternative letter-case form of afghan (“type of iced chocolate biscuit”)

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian افغان (afġān, “Afghan”), from Bactrian αβαγανο (abagano), first attested in the fourth century CE, most likely a compound of *apāka- (“distant, faraway”), from Proto-Iranian *Hápa, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Hápa (“away”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó + *-āna (“ethnic group”), from Proto-Indo-European *-nós, thus: "people from a distant land". Various scholars have proposed Sanskrit etymologies since the nineteenth century (especially prior to the 2007 publication of earlier Bactrian attestations for the word), but linguist Johnny Cheung notes that these are "extremely difficult to reconcile" with recent evidence pointing to a Bactrian source.

proper noun

1
Pashto, a language primarily spoken by Pashtun people in Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan.
2
Variant of AfghanistanslangClipping of Afghanistan.
He will be in Afghan for another six months.

adjective

1
Of, from or relating to Afghanistan, its people, or its culture.
After the biggest military evacuation in history, the Biden administration will now resettle more than 60,000 Afghan refugees inside the US over the next several weeks.
2
Of, from, or pertaining to the Pashtun ethnic community.

Forms

plural: Afghans

afford · To incur, stand, or bear without serious detriment, as an act…affordable · Able to be afforded; inexpensive or reasonably priced.afghan · A blanket or throw, usually crocheted or knitted.

Afghan · A native or inhabitant of Afghanistan; a person of Afghan citizenship or nationality and their descendants.

Afghanistan · A landlocked country between Central Asia and South Asia.…afloat · In or into a state of floating.afraid · Impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear.

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.