كافر

See also: کافر

Arabic

Etymology

Active participle of the verb كَفَرَ (kafara, “to disbelieve; to cover; to conceal”) from the root ك ف ر (k f r).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaː.fir/

Adjective

كَافِر • (kāfir) (masculine plural كَافِرُونَ (kāfirūna) or كُفَّار (kuffār) or كَفَرة (kafara), feminine plural كَافِرَات (kāfirāt) or كَوَافِر (kawāfir))

1. active participle of كَفَرَ (kafara)
2. (obsolete) farmer
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 57:20:

     كَمَثَلِ غَيْثٍ أَعْجَبَ الْكُفَّارَ نَبَاتُهُ ثُمَّ يَهِيجُ فَتَرَاهُ مُصْفَرًّا ثُمَّ يَكُونُ حُطَامًا

     kamaṯali ḡayṯin ʔaʕjaba al-kuffāra nabātuhu ṯumma yahīju fatarāhu muṣfarran ṯumma yakūnu ḥuṭāman

     Like the example of a rain whose [resulting] plant growth pleases the farmers; then it dries and you see it turned yellow; then it becomes [scattered] debris

3. disbeliever, unbeliever
4. (Islam, religious slur) disbeliever, infidel
5. ingrate, ungrateful
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 26:18:

     قَالَ أَلَمْ نُرَبِّكَ فِينَا وَلِيدًا وَلَبِثْتَ فِينَا مِنْ عُمُرِكَ سِنِينَ (18) وَفَعَلْتَ فَعْلَتَكَ الَّتِي فَعَلْتَ وَأَنتَ مِنَ الْكَافِرِينَ (19)

     (18) He said “Did we not rear thee among us as a child? And thou didst dwell many years of thy life among us, (19) and thou didst that thy deed which thou didst, and thou wast one of the ingrates.”

     Translated by Marmaduke Pickthall

Declension

Declension of adjective كَافِر (kāfir)

Singular	Masculine		Feminine
	basic singular triptote		singular triptote in ـَة (-a)
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Informal	كَافِر kāfir	الْكَافِر al-kāfir	كَافِرَة kāfira	الْكَافِرَة al-kāfira
Nominative	كَافِرٌ kāfirun	الْكَافِرُ al-kāfiru	كَافِرَةٌ kāfiratun	الْكَافِرَةُ al-kāfiratu
Accusative	كَافِرًا kāfiran	الْكَافِرَ al-kāfira	كَافِرَةً kāfiratan	الْكَافِرَةَ al-kāfirata
Genitive	كَافِرٍ kāfirin	الْكَافِرِ al-kāfiri	كَافِرَةٍ kāfiratin	الْكَافِرَةِ al-kāfirati
Dual	Masculine		Feminine
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Informal	كَافِرَيْن kāfirayn	الْكَافِرَيْن al-kāfirayn	كَافِرَتَيْن kāfiratayn	الْكَافِرَتَيْن al-kāfiratayn
Nominative	كَافِرَانِ kāfirāni	الْكَافِرَانِ al-kāfirāni	كَافِرَتَانِ kāfiratāni	الْكَافِرَتَانِ al-kāfiratāni
Accusative	كَافِرَيْنِ kāfirayni	الْكَافِرَيْنِ al-kāfirayni	كَافِرَتَيْنِ kāfiratayni	الْكَافِرَتَيْنِ al-kāfiratayni
Genitive	كَافِرَيْنِ kāfirayni	الْكَافِرَيْنِ al-kāfirayni	كَافِرَتَيْنِ kāfiratayni	الْكَافِرَتَيْنِ al-kāfiratayni
Plural	Masculine		Feminine
	sound masculine plural‎; basic broken plural triptote‎; broken plural triptote in ـَة (-a)		sound feminine plural‎; basic broken plural diptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Informal	كَافِرِين‎; كُفَّار‎; كَفَرة kāfirīn‎; kuffār‎; kafara	الْكَافِرِين‎; الْكُفَّار‎; الْكَفَرة al-kāfirīn‎; al-kuffār‎; al-kafara	كَافِرَات‎; كَوَافِر kāfirāt‎; kawāfir	الْكَافِرَات‎; الْكَوَافِر al-kāfirāt‎; al-kawāfir
Nominative	كَافِرُونَ‎; كُفَّارٌ‎; كَفَرةٌ kāfirūna‎; kuffārun‎; kafaratun	الْكَافِرُونَ‎; الْكُفَّارُ‎; الْكَفَرةُ al-kāfirūna‎; al-kuffāru‎; al-kafaratu	كَافِرَاتٌ‎; كَوَافِرُ kāfirātun‎; kawāfiru	الْكَافِرَاتُ‎; الْكَوَافِرُ al-kāfirātu‎; al-kawāfiru
Accusative	كَافِرِينَ‎; كُفَّارًا‎; كَفَرةً kāfirīna‎; kuffāran‎; kafaratan	الْكَافِرِينَ‎; الْكُفَّارَ‎; الْكَفَرةَ al-kāfirīna‎; al-kuffāra‎; al-kafarata	كَافِرَاتٍ‎; كَوَافِرَ kāfirātin‎; kawāfira	الْكَافِرَاتِ‎; الْكَوَافِرَ al-kāfirāti‎; al-kawāfira
Genitive	كَافِرِينَ‎; كُفَّارٍ‎; كَفَرةٍ kāfirīna‎; kuffārin‎; kafaratin	الْكَافِرِينَ‎; الْكُفَّارِ‎; الْكَفَرةِ al-kāfirīna‎; al-kuffāri‎; al-kafarati	كَافِرَاتٍ‎; كَوَافِرَ kāfirātin‎; kawāfira	الْكَافِرَاتِ‎; الْكَوَافِرِ al-kāfirāti‎; al-kawāfiri

Hypernyms

• فَاسِق (fāsiq)

Descendants

• Maltese: kiefer
• → Afrikaans: kaffer
• → Azerbaijani: kafir
• → Bashkir: кафыр (kafır, “infidel”)
• → Bengali: কাফের (kapher)
• → Catalan: cafre
• → Central Kurdish: کافر (kafr)
• → Dongxiang: kafeir
• → Dutch: kaffer
  • Afrikaans: kaffer
  • Sranan Tongo: kafri
    • → Caribbean Hindustani: kafri
  • → English: kaffir (or from another European language)
• → English: kafir
• → Finnish: kafiiri, kafferi
• → French: kâfir, cafard, cafre
• → German: Kafir
• → Greek: κάφρος (káfros)
• → Hausa: kāfìr̃ī
  • → Yoruba: kèfèrí
  • → Nupe: káfìri
• → Italian: cafro, Cafiero
• → Japanese: カーフィル (kāfiru)
• → Kazakh: кәпір (käpır)
• → Korean: 카피르 (kapireu)
• → Kyrgyz: каапыр (kaapır)
• → Macedonian: ќафир (ḱafir)
• → Malay: kafir
  • Indonesian: kafir
• → Mandarin: 卡菲勒 (kǎfēilè), 卡菲爾 / 卡菲尔 (kǎfēi'er)
• → Maore Comorian: kafiri
• → Maranao: kapir
• → Nogai: каьпир (käpir)
• → Northern Kurdish: kafir
• → Pashto: کافر (kāfér)
• → Persian: کافر (kâfer)
  • → Hindustani:

  Hindi: काफ़िर (kāfir)

  Urdu: کافر (kāfir)

• → Norwegian: kaffer
• → Ottoman Turkish: كافر (ḱafir)
  • Turkish: kâfir
  • → Albanian: qafir, kafir — Gheg
  • → Russian: кя́фи́р (kjáfír), кафи́р (kafír), ка́фир (káfir)
• → Portuguese: cafre
• → Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic script: кафир

  Latin script: kafir

• → Spanish: cafre
• → Swahili: kafiri
• → Swedish: kaffer
• → Tajik: кофир (kofir)
• → Tatar: көфер (köfer)
• → Turkmen: kapyr
• → Uyghur: كاپىر (kapir)
• → Uzbek: kofir

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979) “كفر”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN