kiffer (French)

Where does "kiffer" come from?

The French verb 'kiffer' is formed from the noun 'kif' combined with the verbal suffix '-er'[1]. The root noun itself was borrowed into French from Algerian Arabic or Moroccan Arabic 'كيف'[2]. This ultimately traces back to Arabic 'كَيْف', where the term relates to an opiate or state of well being[2][4].

Full etymology tree

• kiffer (French), 'to love or to like'
  • contraction kif (French), 'kif'
    • borrowed كيف (kīf) (Algerian Arabic)
      • inherited كيف (kayf) (Arabic), 'to cut off entirely'
    • borrowed كيف (kīf) (Moroccan Arabic), 'cannabis'
      • inherited كيف (kayf) (Arabic), 'to cut off entirely'
  • suffix -er (French), 'forms infinitives of first-conjugation verbs'

Ancestors

• kif (French)

Sources

1. kiffer (French) - Wiktionary
2. kif (French) - Wiktionary
3. كيف (kīf) (Moroccan Arabic) - Wiktionary
4. كيف (kayf) (Arabic) - Wiktionary

Updated September 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris