An Afghan Can Be a Person, a Blanket or a Hound
Afghan means of Afghanistan. English also gave the name to a crocheted blanket and to a long-haired dog.
Afghan means belonging to Afghanistan or its people. The name then attached itself to two very different objects: the *Afghan hound*, a long-coated sighthound bred in the region, and the *afghan*, a crocheted or knitted blanket named after the woollen coverings brought back by nineteenth-century travellers.
- Of Afghanistan. *Afghan cuisine.*
- A person from Afghanistan. *An Afghan by birth.*
- A knitted blanket. *She crocheted an afghan.*
- Afghan hound — a breed of dog. *An Afghan hound at the show.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Adjective | Afghan | Afghan music. |
| Noun | Afghan | Two Afghans. |
| Country | Afghanistan | Northern Afghanistan. |
| Currency | afghani | Fifty afghani. |
| Language | Pashto / Dari | Spoken in Dari. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Afghan carpets are widely collected.Adjective.
- She wrapped herself in an afghan.Lowercase for the blanket.
- The afghani is the national currency.Not the same word as the demonym.
Place names that became things
- Cashmere — from Kashmir
- Denim — from *de Nîmes*, of Nîmes
- Jeans — from Genoa
- Duffel — from a town in Belgium
- Cardigan — from an earl, and a Welsh county
From Persian *afghan*, the name of the Pashtun people, recorded in English from the seventeenth century. The suffix *-stan* means land or place.
Afghan or Afghani?
Afghan describes the people and things of Afghanistan. Afghani is the currency, though it is often used loosely for the demonym.
Why is a blanket called an afghan?
From the woollen coverings associated with the region, which gave their name to the crocheted blanket style in the nineteenth century.