Afghan

Meaning

Noun

1. A native or inhabitant of Afghanistan; a person of Afghan citizenship or nationality and their descendants.
2. (historical) A person of Pashtun ethnicity.
3. Synonym of Afghan rug.
4. Synonym of Afghan Hound.
5. Synonym of Afghan coat.
6. (alt-of) Alternative letter-case form of afghan (“crocheted or knitted blanket or throw”)
7. (New-Zealand, alt-of) Alternative letter-case form of afghan (“type of iced chocolate biscuit”)

Name

1. Pashto, a language primarily spoken by Pashtun people in Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan.
2. (UK, abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, slang) Clipping of Afghanistan.

Adj

1. (not-comparable) Of, from or relating to Afghanistan.
2. (not-comparable) Of, from, or pertaining to the Pashtun ethnic community.

Synonyms

Afghani

Afghanistani

Afghan hound

Pathan

Paxto

Pashtu

afghani

Pashto

Paskistan

afghan

🇦🇫

Pushtu

Translations

afgano

🇦🇫

afghan

🇦🇫

Afghan

🇦🇫

afgano

afegão

🇦🇫

afghano

🇦🇫

Afghane

🇦🇫

afganès

🇦🇫

Afghanin

Afghaans

🇦🇫

afghanisch

Afghane

Αφγανός

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈæfˌɡæn/

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.