Etymology

foreign devil

Today it means: A foreigner. Full definition →

Cantonese 番鬼
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The story

  1. Cantonese · calque of番鬼
  2. English todayforeign devil

Calque of Cantonese 番鬼 (faan1 gwai2, literally “foreign devil”)

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.