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hijra

[hij-ruh]
noun (in South Asia, especially India)
  1. a person whose gender identity is neither male nor female, typically a person who was born male and dresses as a woman.
  2. a person who is transgender or is transitioning to another gender.
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Origin of hijra

< Hindi: eunuch, hermaphrodite

Hijra

[hij-ruh]
noun (sometimes lowercase) Islam.
  1. the flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina to escape persecution a.d. 622: regarded as the beginning of the Muslim Era.
  2. the Muslim Era itself.
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Also Hegira, Hij·rah.

Origin of Hijra

From the Arabic word hijrah flight, departure
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for hijra

Historical Examples of hijra

  • The earliest reference to Omar Khayyam dates from the middle of the seventh century of the Hijra.

    The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam

    Omar Khayyam

  • The two sects founded by Sur and Zahar became extinct in the eighth century of the Hijra.

  • They are of a much later date, the last one, indeed, having been compiled more than four hundred years after the Hijra.

  • But towards the close of the second century of the Hijra, this earlier mysticism developed into Sfism.

  • In the second year of the Hijra, or flight from Mecca, it was ordained that the month of Ramazn should be kept as a fast.

British Dictionary definitions for hijra

hijra

noun
  1. (in India) a person who adopts a gender role that is neither male nor female
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Word Origin for hijra

Urdu: eunuch
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for hijra

n.

also hijrah, the more correct form of hegira.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper