Etymology

giaour

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Today it means: A non-Muslim, especially a Christian, an infidel; especially as used by Turkish people with particular reference to Christians such as Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians, Serbs and Assyrians. Full definition →

French giaour ← Ottoman Turkish كاور ← Classical Persian گَاوُر
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The story

  1. Classical Persian · derived fromگَاوُر
  2. Ottoman Turkish · derived fromكاور
  3. French · borrowed fromgiaour
  4. English todaygiaour

Borrowed from French giaour, from Ottoman Turkish كاور (gâvur), from Classical Persian گَاوُر (gāwur), a variant of گَبْر (gabr, “infidel”); see there for more. Doublet of Gheber and Gueber.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.