kafala

K5A1F4A1L1A1

noun

A form of Islamic adoption in which the child is not regarded as a true child of the adoptive parents.

OriginArabic كَفَالَة →
Scrabble 13
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Meanings

nounkafala (uncountable)
  1. uncountableIslamA form of Islamic adoption in which the child is not regarded as a true child of the adoptive parents.
  2. uncountableA sponsorship system in the Middle East, used to monitor migrant labourers, mostly in the construction and domestic sectors.

    Officials in Qatar have said that companies building World Cup stadiums will be held to higher standards of worker treatment, and proposed changes to the kafala system are undergoing legislative review.

    2015 July 15, Barry Meier, “Labor Scrutiny for FIFA as a World Cup Rises in the Desert”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 19 Jul 2015

Origin

  1. Arabicكَفَالَة
  2. Englishkafala

Borrowed from Arabic كَفَالَة (kafāla).

More words from Arabic

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

falaka
Cite this entry
APA

kafala. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kafala

MLA

“kafala.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kafala. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kafala,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kafala.

Source: kafala on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.