zenana
Americannoun
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the part of the house in which the women and girls of a family are secluded.
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its occupants collectively.
noun
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
A male doctor attending a zenana lady would put his hand between the purdah to feel her pulse.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 8 "Haller, Albrecht" to "Harmonium" by Various
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 Shib Chunder Bose
It is reached through an opening under a block of zenana buildings.
From From Sea to Sea Letters of Travel by Rudyard Kipling
The English women considered it possible to bring health, hope, and legal aid to the women of the zenana, through women doctors, women missionaries, and women lawyers.
From The Modern Woman's Rights Movement A Historical Survey by Kaethe Schirmacher
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
