Farang

Frank or its equivalent term were used by both Medieval Greeks and Muslims to refer to any crusader or Latin Christian.

The Persian word farang (فرنگ) or farangī (فرنگی), refers to Franks, the major Germanic tribe ruling Western Europe.

According to Rashid od-Din Fazl ol-Lāh-e Hamadāni, Arabic word Afranj comes from the Persian farang.

The words also added to local languages such as Hindi/Urdu as firangi (Devanāgarī: फिरंगी and Urdu فرنگی) and Bengali as firingi (ফিরিঙ্গি).

The word was pronounced paranki (പറങ്കി) in Malayalam, parangiar in Tamil,Sinhala, and Malay as ferenggi[citation needed].

In Bangladesh and West Bengal, the modern meaning of firingi (ফিরিঙ্গি) refers to Anglo-Bengalis or Bengalis with European ancestry.

Until recently the lane next to the Bastion in the northern shore of Malé was called Faranji Kalō Gōlhi.

[5] Edmund Roberts, US envoy to Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat in the early 1830s, defined the term as "Frank (or European)".

[8] Farang is also the Thai word for the guava fruit, introduced by Portuguese traders over 400 years ago.