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kaffir lime
[ kuh-feer lahym ]
noun
Sometimes Offensive.
- an Asian citrus tree, Citrus hystrix, having green fruit with wrinkly skin and aromatic leaves that are used in Southeast Asian cooking.
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Usage Note
Although the development of its name is not entirely certain, the kaffir in kaffir lime looks like a word that is used as a racial slur against Black people in South Africa. Because of that association, some people instead refer to this fruit as the makrut lime.
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Word History and Origins
Origin of kaffir lime1
First recorded in 1820–30; Kaffir ( def ) + lime 1( def ); sense development unclear; possibly named after the Sri Lankan Kaffirs, an ethnic group partly descended from enslaved Bantu Africans
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