# Etymology of Afghan?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-afghan/83552>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 24, 2001, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-afghan/83552 "2001-09-24T20:19:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2001, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-afghan/83552/1 "2001-09-24T20:19:38Z")

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Pashto? Farsi? Turkic? Chinese?

Any ideas???

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**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2001, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-afghan/83552/2 "2001-09-24T23:46:08Z")

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The normally reliable _Brewer_ is a touch vague about this one, saying:

**Afghanistan** : The central Asian republic derives its name from its native inhabitants, the _Afghanis_, with the latter part of the name representing the Old Persian _stan_, ‘country’ (ultimately related to the English ‘stand’). The people’s own name comes from _Afghana_, a Persian word that may be the name of one of their ancestors.

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**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-afghan/83552/3 "2001-09-25T00:34:08Z")

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Some more information from the _Encyclopedia Britannica_:

> [@](#):
>
> Variations on the word “Afghan” may go back as early as a 3rd-century-AD Sasanian reference to “Abgan.” The earliest Muslim reference to the Afghans probably dates to AD 982, but tribes related to the modern Afghans have lived in the region for many generations.

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**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-afghan/83552/4 "2001-09-25T00:37:54Z")

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And the [American Heritage Dictionary](http://www.bartleby.com/61/45/A0124500.html) agrees that _afghan_ comes from Persian.