purdah
A curtain, especially one used in some Hindu or Muslim traditions to conceal women…A curtain, especially one used in some Hindu or Muslim traditions to conceal women from the gaze of people, particularly men and strangers.
Translations
4 languagesMeaning
6 senses(Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, South Asia, also, countable, figuratively)A curtain, especially one used in some Hindu or Muslim traditions to conceal women from the gaze of people, particularly men and strangers.
the traditional Hindu or Muslim system of keeping women secluded
(broadly, figuratively, uncountable)Keeping apart; isolation, seclusion; also, concealment, secrecy.
(UK, broadly, countable)The period between the announcement of an election or referendum and its conclusion, during which civil servants refrain from making policy announcements or taking actions that could be seen as advantageous to certain candidates in the election.
More meanings 3
(broadly, uncountable)The situation or system of secluding women from the gaze of people, particularly men and strangers, in some Muslim and Hindu traditions, by using a curtain or screen, and/or wearing a face veil or attire covering most of the body.
Parda
пурдаpurda, пардаparda
пурдаpurda
(broadly, countable)A long veil or other attire covering most of the body, worn by women in some Muslim societies.
(broadly, obsolete, rare, uncountable)A striped cotton cloth which is used to make curtains.
Origin
Borrowed from Hindustani پردہ / पर्दा (pardā), and its etymon Classical Persian پرده (pardBorrowed from Hindustani پردہ / पर्दा (pardā), and its etymon Classical Persian پرده (pardah, “curtain; screen; (archaic) veil”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat”). Doublet of patka.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: purdahsSynonyms
2 synonyms- a state of social isolation:solitude
- the traditional Hindu or Muslim system of keeping women secluded:sex segregation
Word family
3 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.