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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

Afghan.

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

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈæfˌɡæn/UK, US/ˈæfɡən/UK, US/ˈæf(ˌ)ɡɑːn/UK, US
  1. A native or inhabitant of Afghanistan; a person of Afghan citizenship or nationality and their descendants.

  2. A person of Pashtun ethnicity.

    dated
  3. Synonym of Afghan rug.

  4. Synonym of Afghan Hound.

  5. Synonym of Afghan coat.

  6. Alternative letter-case form of afghan (“crocheted or knitted blanket or throw”)

    alt-of
  7. Alternative letter-case form of afghan (“type of iced chocolate biscuit”)

    New-Zealand · alt-of
Where this word comes from

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.

name/ˈæfˌɡæn/UK, US/ˈæfɡən/UK, US/ˈæf(ˌ)ɡɑːn/UK, US
  1. Pashto, a language primarily spoken by Pashtun people in Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan.

  2. Clipping of Afghanistan.

    UK · abbreviation · alt-of · clipping · slang
    He will be in Afghan for another six months.
Where this word comes from

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.

adj/ˈæfˌɡæn/UK, US/ˈæfɡən/UK, US/ˈæf(ˌ)ɡɑːn/UK, US
  1. Of, from or relating to Afghanistan, its people, or its culture.

    not-comparable
  2. Of, from, or pertaining to the Pashtun ethnic community.

    not-comparable
Where this word comes from

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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.