hijra

¹ American  

[hij-ruh] / ˈhɪdʒ rə /

noun

1. a person whose gender identity is neither male nor female, typically a person who was assigned male at birth but whose gender expression is female.

2. a person who is transgender.

---

Hijra ² American  

[hij-ruh] / ˈhɪdʒ rə /

Also Hijrah.

noun

(sometimes lowercase)

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.

---

hijra British  

/ ˈhɪdʒrə /

noun

1. (in India) a person who adopts a gender role that is neither male nor female

---

Etymology

Origin of hijra¹

First recorded in 1835–40; from Hindi: “eunuch, hermaphrodite”

Origin of Hijra¹

From the Arabic word hijrah flight, departure

Example Sentences

People of any age in the hijra community can enrol at the school.

From BBC

School officials, local councillors and hijra community leaders attended the opening day at the Dawatul Koran Third Sex Madrassa, which is near Lohar bridge in the Kamrangirchar area of Dhaka.

From BBC

This is the story of a terrorist attack but also of the violence of entrenched injustices — misogyny, police brutality, the lack of access to clean water, the enforced poverty of the hijra community.

From New York Times

He used the Arabic word for emigration: hijra.

From The Guardian

It began when Imam Lateef, 54, the vice chairman of the nearby Hijra Mosque, received a call from the landlord who had rented the home to the group.

From Washington Post