View source for Farang

{{short description|Persian word for Europeans}}
{{hatnote group|
{{about|the Persian word|the village in Iran|Farang, Iran}}
{{redirect|Farangi|the 1964 Pakistani film|Farangi (film)|the Greek village|Farangi, Florina}}
{{Redirect|Folangji|the gun also known as "folangji" in Ming China|Breech-loading swivel gun}}}} 

[[File:20160727 Farang Wat Pho 5446.jpg |thumb|Depiction of ''farang'' as a stone guard at [[Wat Pho]] in [[Bangkok]]; circa 1824–1851]]

'''Farang''' ({{langx|fa|[[wikt:فرنگ|فرنگ]]}} {{IPA|fa|fæˈɹæŋg|}}) is a [[Persian language|Persian]] word that originally referred to the [[Franks]] (the major [[Germanic peoples| Germanic people]]) and [[Franks#Crusaders and other Western Europeans as "Franks" |later came to refer]] to [[Western Christianity |Western or Latin Europeans]] in general.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Habibi |first=Negar |date=2 November 2021 |title=Farangi |url=https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/khamseen/terms/2021/farangi/ |website=Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online}}</ref> The word is borrowed from Old French {{lang|fro|franc}} or Latin {{lang|la|francus}}, which are also the source of Modern English ''France, French''.

The Western European and Eastern worlds came into prolonged contact with each other during the [[crusades]] and the establishment of the [[Crusader states]]. Many crusaders spoke [[Old French|(Old) French]] and were from the territory of modern France; while others came from other regions, such as modern Italy or England. In any case, the period predated the idea of the [[nation state]] in Europe. ''Frank'' or its equivalent term were used by both [[Medieval Greek]]s and Easterners to refer to any crusader or Latin Christian. From the 12th century onwards, it was the standard term for Western Christians in the Eastern world.

Through trading networks, the Persian term ''farang'' and related words such as ''[[Frangistan]]'' ({{langx|fa|فرنگستان}}) were spread to languages of [[South Asia]] and [[Southeast Asia]].

{{Anchor|Etymology|Word}}

==Origin and geographic spread{{anchor|Name}}==
{{More citations needed section|date=November 2020}}

===Arabic===
The [[Persian language |Persian]] word ''[[Franks#Legacy| farang]]'' ({{lang|fa|[[wikt:فرنگ|فرنگ]]}}) or ''farangī'' ({{lang|fa|[[wikt:فرنگی|فرنگی]]}}), refers to [[Franks]], the major [[Germanic peoples| Germanic]] tribe ruling [[Western Europe]]. ''[[Frangistan]]'' ({{langx|fa|فرنگستان}}) was a term used by Easterners from the Muslim world and [[Persian people| Persians]] in particular, during the [[Middle Ages]] and later periods, to refer to [[Western Christianity |Western or Latin Europe]]. According to [[Rashid-al-Din Hamadani]], the [[Arabic language |Arabic]] word "Afranj" comes from the Persian "Farang".<ref>{{ill|Karl Jahn|de|Karl Jahn (Orientalist)}} (ed.) ''Histoire universelle de Rashid al-Din fadl Allah Abul-Khair'': "I. Histoire des Francs (Texte Persan avec traduction et annotations)", Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1951. (Source: M. Ashtiany)</ref>{{clarify |1) What page? 2) What does "Source: M. Ashtiany" mean? 3) Who is M. Ashtiany, maybe Mohsen Ashtiany,  lecturer on Persian literature and history at Oxford U., U. of Manchester and UCLA? Sloppy!! |date= April 2025}} This seems unlikely though, considering that the Arabic "Afranj" (also "Faranj" or "Ifranj") has been attested since the 9th century in the works of [[al-Jahiz]] (c. 776–868/869), over a century before "Farang" was first used in an anonymous late-10th-century Persian geography book,<ref>{{Cite book |last =Dabashi |first= Hamid |author-link= Hamid Dabashi |title= Reversing the Colonial Gaze: Persian Travelers Abroad |year= 2020 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |page= 68 |quote= The earliest source in which the word farang appears in Persian is actually by the anonymous author of ''Hudud al-'Alam/Boundaries of the World'' from the tenth century, and even before in Arabic in the works of Al-Jahiz (776–869), as in the expression "King of Farang" or the region of "Farang." |isbn= 9781108488129 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DW7CDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA68 |access-date= 2 April 2025}}</ref> suggesting that the Persian "Farang" is a loan from Arabic. By the 11th century, Arabic texts were increasingly using the term "Faransa" or "al-Faransiyah" for France, already attested in the work of [[Said al-Andalusi]] in the mid-11th century.{{cn |date= April 2025}}

===Ethiopia and Eritrea===
In the languages of [[Ethiopia]] and [[Eritrea]], ''faranj'' or ''ferenj'' in most contexts still means distant foreigner (generally used to describe [[Europeans|Europeans or European descendant]]/[[White person|white people]]), in certain contexts within the Ethiopian and Eritrean diaspora, the term ''faranj'' or ''ferenj'' has taken on a slightly alternative meaning that closely resembles the term [[Western world|Westerner or Westernized people]] even though it still mostly applies to [[Europeans |European descendants]]/[[White person|White People]], it can be applied to [[African Americans]] and other Westernized [[People of Color]].

===South, Southeast and East Asia===
During the Muslim [[Mughal Empire]] when the Europeans arrived in [[South Asia]], the [[Persian language|Persian]] word Farang was used to refer to foreigners of European descent. The words also added to local languages such as [[Hindi]]/[[Urdu]] as ''firangi'' ([[Devanāgarī]]: फिरंगी and Urdu فرنگی) and [[Bengali language|Bengali]] as ''firingi'' (ফিরিঙ্গি). The word was pronounced ''paranki'' (പറങ്കി) in [[Malayalam]], ''parangiar'' in [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Sinhala language|Sinhala]],  and [[Malay language|Malay]] as ''ferenggi''{{Citation needed|date=November 2020|reason=ferenggi doesn't exist in malaysian or indonesian}}. From there the term spread into China as ''folangji'' (佛郎機), which was used to refer to the Portuguese and their [[breech-loading swivel gun]]s when they first arrived in China.

==Regional evolution==
===South Asia===
In [[Bangladesh]] and [[West Bengal]], the modern meaning of ''firingi'' (ফিরিঙ্গি) refers to [[Anglo-Indian|Anglo-Bengalis]] or Bengalis with European ancestry. Most ''firingi''s tend to be [[Bengali Christians]]. Descendants of ''firingi''s who married local Bengali women may also be referred to as ''Kalo Firingi''s (Black firingis) or ''Matio Firingis'' (Earth-coloured firingis).<ref name="bpedia">{{cite book|title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh|first=Shireen|last=Hasan Osmany|chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Chittagong_City|chapter=Chittagong City|publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref> Following the [[Portuguese settlement in Chittagong]], the Portuguese fort and naval base came to be known as Firingi Bandar or the Foreigner's Port. There are also places such as Firingi Bazaar which exist in older parts of [[Old Dhaka|Dhaka]] and Chittagong. The descendants of these Portuguese traders in [[Chittagong]] continue to be referred to as ''Firingi''s.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bangladesh Channel Services|title=Explore the wonders of Chittagong in Bangladesh|url=http://www.bangladesh.com/chittagong-division/chittagong/|access-date=11 July 2015|ref={{SfnRef|Bangladesh Channel}}}}</ref> The Indian [[biographical film]] ''[[Antony Firingee (film)|Antony Firingee]]'' was very popular in the mid-20th century and was based on [[Anthony Firingee]] – a Bengali folk singer of Portuguese origin. There is also [[List of rivers of Sundarbans|a river]] in the [[Sundarbans]] called Firingi River.

In [[Telugu language|Telugu]] ''phirangi'' (ఫిరంగి) means cannon, due to cannons being an import.

In [[Sinhala language|Sinhala]] ''parangi'' (පරංගි) was used to refer to the [[Portuguese people]]. The poem [[:wikibooks:si:පරංගි_හටන|''Parangi Hatana'']] describes the [[Battle of Gannoruwa]].

In the [[Maldives]] ''faranji'' was the term used to refer to foreigners of European origin, especially the [[French people|French]]. Until recently the lane next to the Bastion in the northern shore of [[Malé]] was called Faranji Kalō Gōlhi.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.maldivesroyalfamily.com/maldives_hilaaly.shtml |title=Royal House of Hilaaly-Huraa |access-date=2015-12-13 |archive-date=2021-02-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211025253/http://www.maldivesroyalfamily.com/maldives_hilaaly.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Southeast Asia===
[[Edmund Roberts (diplomat)|Edmund Roberts]], US envoy to [[Cochin-China]], [[Siam]], and [[Muscat]] in the early 1830s, defined the term as "[[Franks|Frank]] (or European)".<ref name="Roberts">{{cite book |last= Roberts|first= Edmund |title= Embassy to the Eastern courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat : in the U. S. sloop-of-war Peacock ... during the years 1832-3-4 |year= 1837|url= https://archive.org/details/embassytoeaster00unkngoog |orig-year= First published in 1837 |publisher= Harper & brothers |chapter= Chapter XIX 1833 Officers of Government
|access-date= March 29, 2012 |edition= Digital |quote= Connected with this department is that of the Farang-khromma-tha," Frank (or European) commercial board}}</ref> [[Black people]] are called ''farang dam'' ({{langx|th|ฝรั่งดำ}}; 'black farang') to distinguish them from whites. This began during the [[Vietnam War]], when the [[United States military]] maintained bases in Thailand. The practice continues in present-day Bangkok.<ref>{{cite web|first=Eromosele|last=Diana Ozemebhoy|title=Being Black in Thailand: We're Treated Better Than Africans, and Boy Do We Hate It |website=The Root |pages=1–2 |date=26 May 2015|url=http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2015/05/black_in_thailand_we_re_treated_better_than_africans_and_boy_do_we_hate.html |access-date=26 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529010433/http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2015/05/black_in_thailand_we_re_treated_better_than_africans_and_boy_do_we_hate.html |archive-date=29 May 2015 }}</ref>

In modern Thailand, the ''[[Royal Institute Dictionary]] 1999'', the official dictionary of Thai words, defines the word as "a [[white people|person of white race]]".<ref name= ridict>{{cite web | script-title = th:พจนานุกรม ฉบับราชบัณฑิตยสถาน พ.ศ. 2542 |trans-title=Royal Institute Dictionary 1999 | date = 2007 | access-date = 2014-04-05 | language = th | publisher = [[Royal Institute of Thailand]] | url = http://rirs3.royin.go.th/dictionary.asp | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090303000030/http://rirs3.royin.go.th/dictionary.asp | archive-date = 2009-03-03 }}</ref> The term is also blended into everyday terms meaning "of/from the white race". For example,  varieties of food/produce that were introduced by Europeans are often called ''farang'' varieties. Hence, [[potato]]es are ''man farang'' ({{langx|th|มันฝรั่ง}}), whereas ''man'' ({{langx|th|มัน}}) alone can be any [[tuber]]; ''no mai farang'' ({{langx|th|หน่อไม้ฝรั่ง}}; "''farang'' [[Shoot (botany)|shoot]]") means [[asparagus]]; [[culantro]] is called ''phak chi farang'' ({{langx|th|ผักชีฝรั่ง}}, literally farang cilantro/[[coriander]]); and chewing gum is ''mak farang'' ({{langx|th|หมากฝรั่ง}}). ''Mak'' ({{langx|th|หมาก}}) is Thai for [[areca nut]]; chewing ''mak'' together with [[betel leaves]] ''(bai phlu)'' was a Thai custom. A non-food example is ''achan farang'' ({{langx|th|อาจารย์ฝรั่ง}}; "''farang'' professor") which is the nickname of an influential figure in Thai art history, Italian art professor [[Silpa Bhirasri]].<ref name = ridict />

''Farang'' is also the [[Thai language|Thai]] word for the [[guava]] fruit, introduced by [[Portuguese discoveries |Portuguese traders]] over 400 years ago.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dictionary.sanook.com/search/dict-th-th-pleang/%E0%B8%9D%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B1%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%87|title=ฝรั่ง คืออะไร แปลภาษา แปลว่า หมายถึง (พจนานุกรมไทย-ไทย อ.เปลื้อง ณ นคร)|website=dictionary.sanook.com|access-date=2018-12-15}}</ref>

''Farang khi nok'' ({{Langx|th|ฝรั่งขี้นก|translation=bird-droppings Farang}}), also used in [[Lao language|Lao]], is slang commonly used as an insult to a person of white race, equivalent to [[white trash]], as ''khi'' means [[feces]] and ''nok'' means bird, referring to the white color of bird-droppings.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dictionary.sanook.com/search/dict-th-th-royal-institute/%E0%B8%9D%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B1%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%82%E0%B8%B5%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%81|title=ฝรั่งขี้นก คืออะไร แปลภาษา แปลว่า หมายถึง (พจนานุกรมไทย-ไทย ราชบัณฑิตยสถาน)|website=dictionary.sanook.com|access-date=2018-12-15}}</ref>

In the [[Isan language|Isan]] Lao dialect, the guava is called ''mak sida'' ({{langx|th|หมากสีดา}}), ''mak'' being a prefix for fruit names. Thus ''bak sida'' ({{langx|th|บักสีดา}}), ''bak'' being a prefix when calling males, refers [[Pun|jokingly]] to a Westerner, by analogy to the Thai language where ''farang'' can mean both guava and Westerner.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://siamsmile.webs.com/isaan/isaan.html|title= Isaan Dialect|access-date= 28 December 2009|date= Dec 2009|publisher= SiamSmile|quote= SEE-DA สีดา BAK-SEE-DA บักสีดา or MAHK-SEE-DA หมากสีดา. Guava fruit; Foreigner (white, Western.) BAK is ISAAN for mister; SEE-DA สีดา, BAK-SEE-DA and MAHK-SEE-DA are Isaan for the Guava fruit.|archive-date= 16 March 2010|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100316073018/http://siamsmile.webs.com/isaan/isaan.html|url-status= dead}}</ref>

==See also==
{{cmn|colwidth=30em|
* [[Ang Mo]] (Malaysia and Singapore)
* [[Buckra]]
* [[Barang (Khmer word)|Barang]] (Khmer, Cambodia)
* [[Bule (term)|Bule]] (Indonesia)
* [[Cracker (pejorative)|Cracker]]
* [[Ferengi]] – a fictional species in ''Star Trek''
* [[wikt:firangi|Firangi]] (India and Pakistan)
* [[Firingi Bazar]] (Bangladesh)
* [[Marco Polo#Scholarly analyses|Frank]] used in the time of Marco Polo for a western foreigner.
* [[Mat Salleh]] (Malaysia/ Brunei / Singapore / Southern Thailand / West Indonesia)
* [[Gringo]] (Latin America)
* [[Gweilo]] (Southern China/Hong Kong)
* [[Honky]]
* [[Huanna]]
* [[Luk khrueng]]
* [[Whitey (slang)|Whitey]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | last = Corness | first = Dr Iain| title = Farang | publisher = Maverick House Publishers | location = Dunboyne | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-1-905379-42-2 }}
* {{cite book | last = Marcinkowski | first = Dr Christoph| title = From Isfahan to Ayutthaya: Contacts between Iran and Siam in the 17th Century. With a foreword by Professor Ehsan Yarshater, Columbia University, New York | publisher = Pustaka Nasional | location = Singapore | year = 2005 | isbn = 9971-77-491-7 }}
* Kitiarsa, P. (2011). An ambiguous intimacy: Farang as Siamese occidentalism. In R. V. Harrison & P. A. Jackson (Eds.), The ambiguous allure of the West: Traces of the colonial in Thailand (pp.&nbsp;57–74). Hong Kong Univ. Press; Silkworm Books.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Foreigners in Thailand}}
* [https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/khamseen/terms/2021/farangi/ Negar Habibi, “Farangi,” ''Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online'', published 2 November 2021.]
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329074417/http://www.wordreference.com/definition/Farang |title=Farang in the Concise Oxford Dictionary}}
* [http://der-farang.com German language bi-monthly magazine, published by ''Der Farang'', Pattaya, Thailand]
* [http://baheyeldin.com/linguistics/thai-word-farang-variations-in-other-languages-arabic-origin.html The Thai word "Farang", its variations in other languages, and its Arabic origin]

{{White people terms}}
{{Ethnic groups in Thailand}}
{{ethnic slurs}}

[[Category:Ethno-cultural designations]]
[[Category:Thai words and phrases]]
[[Category:Exonyms]]
[[Category:Persian words and phrases]]