purdah

The purdah rustled, and the speech was cut short by the entry of a little thin woman, with big rings round her eyes.
Under the Deodars|Rudyard Kipling
Purdah, pur′d, n. a curtain screening a chamber of state or the women's apartments: the seclusion itself.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R)|Various
In the huts there was scarce one piece of furniture, save perhaps a bed or a roll of matting or a ragged purdah.
Told on the Pagoda|Mimosa
This had produced a violent revulsion towards the purdah system and the idea of a matrimonial alliance with Gunter Lake.
The Secret Places of the Heart|H. G. Wells

She came on board to see us, but many precautions to preserve the purdah had to be taken.
The Last Voyage|Lady (Annie Allnutt) Brassey

British Dictionary definitions for purdah

purdah

purda

/ (ˈpɜːdə) /

noun

the custom in some Muslim and Hindu communities of keeping women in seclusion, with clothing that conceals them completely when they go out

a screen in a Hindu house used to keep the women out of view

a veil worn by Hindu women of high caste

informal hiding or isolationthe Treasury is currently locked in pre-budget purdah

Word Origin for purdah

C19: from Hindi parda veil, from Persian pardah

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

purdah

or pur·da, par·dah

Origin of purdah

Words nearby purdah

Words related to purdah

How to use purdah in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for purdah

purda

Word Origin for purdah