afghan
nounEtymology From Afghan.
1
A blanket or throw, usually crocheted or knitted.
2
Australia, New Zealand A type of iced chocolate biscuit, sometimes containing cornflakes and topped with a walnut.
Afghan
adjalso spelled AfghanUK, US /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.
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.2021 September 13, Priscilla Alvarez and Oren Liebermann, “Inside the effort to resettle thousands of Afghans in the United States”, in CNN:
2
Of, from, or pertaining to the Pashtun ethnic community.
- Derived terms
- Afghan bread, Afghanese, Afghan fox, Afghan hound, Afghan Hound, Afghania, Afghanise, afghanite, Afghanize, Afghanness, Afghano-