# afghan

Pronunciation: say "AF-gan" /ˈæfˌɡæn/

## Adjective · Afghan

1. Belonging to, coming from, or relating to Afghanistan.
   - Simple: Coming from Afghanistan, or having to do with Afghanistan.
   - _The city has helped resettle hundreds of Afghan refugees over the past year._
   - _The museum's new gallery displays Afghan jewelry, pottery and manuscripts._
7. Belonging to, coming from, or relating to the Pashtun ethnic community.
   - Simple: Belonging to or having to do with the Pashtun people.
   - _Elders from the Afghan tribes of northwestern Pakistan met to settle a dispute over grazing land._
   - _The poet, born in Peshawar, wrote in Pashto about Afghan honor and hospitality._

## Noun · Afghan

2. A person born or living in Afghanistan, or one of Afghan citizenship, nationality or descent.
   - Simple: A person who comes from Afghanistan, lives there, or whose family comes from there.
   - _As an Afghan living abroad, he follows the news from Kabul every night._
   - _The new clinic hired two Afghans who had trained as nurses in Kabul._
4. A dog of the Afghan hound breed.
   - Simple: A dog of the kind called an Afghan hound.
   - _An Afghan took best in show at this year's kennel club competition._
   - _The breeder keeps three Afghans, and grooming their long silky coats takes hours each week._
6. A rug of the kind made in Afghanistan, known in full as an Afghan rug.
   - Simple: A rug from Afghanistan, also called an Afghan rug.
   - _The dealer unrolled a hand-knotted Afghan so we could see its deep red pattern._
   - _They laid an antique Afghan under the dining table to protect the wooden floor._
8. A person belonging to the Pashtun ethnic group.
   - Simple: A person who belongs to the Pashtun people.
   - _The officer hired an Afghan from the hills above Peshawar as his guide and interpreter._
   - _Many of the frontier regiment's soldiers were Afghans from the tribes around the Khyber Pass._
9. A coat in the style associated with Afghanistan, known in full as an Afghan coat.
   - Simple: A coat in a style from Afghanistan, also called an Afghan coat.
   - _She found a shaggy sheepskin Afghan in a vintage store, its embroidery still bright._
   - _My father still has the Afghan he wore to music festivals in the seventies._

## Noun

3. A blanket or throw, usually one that has been crocheted or knitted.
   - Simple: A blanket, usually knitted or crocheted from yarn.
   - _My aunt crocheted a granny-square afghan for the new baby._
   - _She sells handmade afghans at the county craft fair every fall._
10. An iced chocolate cookie, sometimes made with cornflakes and topped with a walnut. *(Australia, New Zealand)*
   - Simple: A chocolate cookie with icing, sometimes made with cornflakes and with a walnut on top.
   - _The café down the road sells a proper afghan, crunchy with cornflakes and a walnut half pressed into the icing._
   - _Nan always kept a tin of afghans in the pantry for visitors._

## Proper noun · Afghan

5. Pashto, the language spoken mainly by Pashtun people in Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan.
   - Simple: Another name for Pashto, a language spoken mostly by Pashtun people in Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan.
   - _Before heading to Kandahar, the young officer spent a year learning Afghan._
   - _The trader spoke Afghan with the camel drivers and Persian with the officials in town._
11. Clipping of Afghanistan. *(slang, UK)* — Clipping of Afghanistan.
   - Simple: Short form of Afghanistan. British soldiers use it as slang.
   - _Mum hardly slept while Dad was out in Afghan._
   - _He did two tours in Afghan before leaving the Royal Marines._

## Origin

Borrowed from Classical Persian afġān ("Afghan"), from Bactrian abagano, first recorded in the fourth century CE and most likely a compound of *apāka- ("distant, faraway") and *-āna ("ethnic group"), so "people from a distant land". Sanskrit origins have also been proposed, but these are very hard to reconcile with the evidence for a Bactrian source.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/afghan (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).