hijra

¹

[ hij-ruh ]

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.

Hijra

²

[ hij-ruh ]

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.

hijra

/ ˈhɪdʒrə /

noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of hijra¹

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

Origin of hijra²

From the Arabic word hijrah flight, departure

Word History and Origins

Origin of hijra¹

Urdu: eunuch

Example Sentences

"Behind the ridicule and abuse, I know they were all thinking the same thing: 'How could a hijra be the mayor?'"

From BBC

It presents her signature aesthetic — instinctively composed black-and-white images that always feel close yet never prying — and the themes and characters that recur in her oeuvre, like her friend Mona Ahmed, a hijra, or third-gender person, who lived in a Delhi cemetery.

From New York Times

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

Curious to learn about the experiences of gender-diverse people around the world, she even moved to India to live with the Hijra community - a group sometimes referred to as India's "third sex" who have existed in Hindu society for 2,000 years.

From BBC

The hijra in India, whose intersex nature was long revered under Hinduism and who were given a place of honor in the Mughal courts from the 16th to the 19th centuries, now live mostly in poverty, excluded from mainstream society.

From New York Times