zenana

American  

[zuh-nah-nuh] / zəˈnɑ nə /

Or zanana

noun

1. the part of the house in which the women and girls of a family are secluded.

2. its occupants collectively.

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zenana British  

/ zɛˈnɑːnə /

noun

1. (in the East, esp in Muslim and Hindu homes) part of a house reserved for the women and girls of a household

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Etymology

Origin of zenana

First recorded in 1755–65; from Hindi, from Persian zanāna, “female, pertaining to women,” adjective derivative of zan “woman”; cognate with Sanskrit jani “woman, wife,” Greek gynḗ, Old Church Slavonic žena, Old English cwēn “woman, wife”; see queen

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

zenana

The buzzing sound of UAVs has been ubiquitous in Gaza since 2006, and drones are called zenana, an Arabic word referring to the sound using the slang term for a nagging wife.

From Salon ● Nov. 11, 2024

It will be your voice and not our sister's that will hold the attention of the zenana.

From The Outcaste by Penny, F. E.

Now Champa Dal, having no wife, was in the habit of sleeping outside the zenana, and not far from the outer gate of the palace.

From Folk-Tales of Bengal by Day, Lal Behari

A social line of demarcation is drawn around the zenana which a genteel Hindoo female is told and taught never to overstep, either in her conversation or bearing.

From The Hindoos as they Are A Description of the Manners, Customs and the Inner Life of Hindoo Society in Bengal by Bose, Shib Chunder

As Viceroy he was admitted to the zenana, though of course other men could not enter.

From Fifty-One Years of Victorian Life by Child-Villiers, Margaret Elizabeth Leigh