xrafstar

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Avestan: xrafstra-; Middle Persian: xrafstar”)

Noun

xrafstar (plural xrafstars)

1. (Zoroastrianism) Any animal considered harmful or repulsive, and not to be sacrificed or eaten.
   • 1994, JSAI, volume 17, page 23:

     There are three kinds of xrafstars corresponding to three categories of animals: those that live in water, those that live on earth, and those that live in the air.

   • 2015, Michael Stausberg, Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw Vevaina, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism (page 352)

     GBd 22 gives details of certain xrafstars, such as the silkworm and the honeybee, which 'Ohrmazd through omniscience diverts to the benefit of creatures' (my translation), just as he also makes the noxious creatures attack and kill their own species (GBd 22.29).