E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Kaffir (Arabic, Kâfir, an infidel).
A name given to the Hottentots, who reject the Moslem faith. Kafiristan, in Central Asia, means “the country of the infidels.”
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“The affinity of the Kafir tribes … including the Kafirs proper and the people of Congo, is based upon the various idioms spoken by them, the direct representatives of a common, but now extinct, mother tongue. This aggregate of languages is now conveniently known as … . the Bantu linguistic system.”—K. Johnston: Africa, p. 447.
