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definitions

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.

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.
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 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

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper