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.

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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.

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hijra British  

/ ˈhɪdʒrə /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of hijra¹

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

Origin of Hijra²

From the Arabic word hijrah flight, departure

Example Sentences

This hijra, meaning “emigration,” was a watershed moment for Muhammad’s early community.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

Aruvi, a transgender person in Hyderabad, started a “transkitchen” with the help of three friends from the queer community, who cooked food and delivered it to the hijra community and other marginalized groups.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 8, 2022

Lovely is a hijra — part of an intersex community in South Asia that is both revered and reviled.

From Washington Post • Jun. 15, 2020

She says her hope is that people will stop reacting negatively to the word hijra and start treating them as the "third sex".

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2014

After British lawmakers drafted Section 377 in 1861, members of the hijra community began communicating with each other in a distinct language, a mishmash of Farsi, Hindi and Urdu, to escape persecution.

From New York Times • Dec. 19, 2013