Hegira
Americannoun
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Islam. a variant spelling of Hijra.
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(lowercase) Also hejira any flight or journey to a more desirable or congenial place.
noun
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the departure of Mohammed from Mecca to Medina in 622 ad ; the starting point of the Muslim era
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the Muslim era itself See also AH
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(often not capital) an emigration escape or flight
Etymology
Origin of Hegira
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Medieval Latin, from Arabic hijrah “emigration, flight, departure,” a derivative of the verb hajara “he departed”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
My own Hegira is a two-block schlep to a neighborhood bagel place, so I’m not the ideal audience for this heady Kerouacian stuff.
From Slate • Mar. 12, 2021
The great Hegira, led by Charles E. Hughes, was at the cordial invitation of the Bench and Bar of England.
From Time Magazine Archive
He has told an interviewer that they understand their stay there to be similar to the Prophet Muhammad's Hegira, or migration from Mecca to Medina.
From Time Magazine Archive
After cautious reconnoitering, Mohammed sent his band thither on the so-called Great Hegira.
From Time Magazine Archive
Abu Sofian, in the year 625, the third of the Hegira, appeared at the head of 3000 men, and occupied a camp to the east of Medina.
From The Formation of Christendom, Volume VII by Allies, Thomas W.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
