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Giaour or Gawur (Turkish: gâvur; [ɟaˈʋur], /dʒaʊər/, from Persian: گور gaur, Albanian: Kaur), meaning "infidel", is an offensive term, a slur, historically used in the Ottoman Empire for Christians, such as Orthodox Christians in the Balkans (non-Muslims). Christian ethnic groups in the Ottoman Empire referred to with the term include Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians, Serbs, Orthodox and Catholic Albanians and Assyrians among others. It was widely used in defters (tax registries) for Orthodox Christians.
The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica described the term as follows:
Giaour (a Turkish adaptation of the Persian gdwr or gbr, an infidel), a word used by the Turks to describe all who are not Muslims, with especial reference to Christians. The word, first employed as a term of contempt and reproach, has become so general that in most cases no insult is intended in its use; similarly, in parts of China, the term foreign devil has become void of offence. A strict analogy to giaour is found in the Arabic kafir, or unbeliever, which is so commonly in use as to have become the proper name of peoples and countries.