A watchman, guard, or night watchman in Muslim countries, especially in Egypt and the Middle East; a person employed to guard property or maintain order.
From Arabic ghaffir (غفير), derived from the verb ghafara (to protect or guard). The word entered English through colonial and trade contact with the Middle East and North Africa.
The word ghaffir reveals how English has borrowed occupational terms from all over the world—every culture has different words for the people who guard them, and English has gleefully collected all of them!
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