kaffir lime

[ kuh-feer lahym ]

noun

, Sometimes Offensive.

1. an Asian citrus tree, Citrus hystrix, having green fruit with wrinkly skin and aromatic leaves that are used in Southeast Asian cooking. the current entry

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.

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