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

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

One day he came earlier to the zenana, and found his consort reading something.

From Mashi and Other Stories by Tagore, Rabindranath

Born within the precincts of an ill-ventilated zenana, and cooped up in the cage of an uncongenial cell, she is destined to breathe her last in that unwholesome retreat.

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

Here the seclusion of the Turkish harem and the Hindoo zenana does not exist, and the women are probably the freest, most independent of the women of the East.

From Oriental Women by Pollard, Edward Bagby

Word comes from the zenana that it is a girl.

From Oriental Women by Pollard, Edward Bagby