mafoo

From Mandarin 馬伕／马伕 (mǎfū), from 馬／马 (mǎ, “horse”) + 伕 (fū, “servant, labourer”). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑːfuː/

mafoo (plural mafoos)

1. In China, someone who looks after horses in a stable; a groom. [from 19th c.]
   • 1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society, published 2010, page 144:

     The mafoos held their charges miserably, as if sick with nerves.