hijra en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /ɦiːd͡ʒ.ɽɑː/ (India)
- [ɦiːd͡ʒ.ɽäː] (India)
- (US) audio
- /ˈhɪd͡ʒɹə/ (US)
- [ɦɪd͡ʒ.ɽäː] (India)
- /ˈhiːd͡ʒɹə/ (US)
- /ɦɪd͡ʒ.ɽɑː/ (India)
Etymology
From Hindi हीजड़ा (hījṛā).
Meanings
-
A eunuch in South Asia, especially one who dresses as a woman.
When the Mughal court was disbanded, Muslim hijras were exposed for the first time to the other, Hindu, tradition of eunuchry.
1993, William Dalrymple, City of Djinns, Penguin, published 2004, page 172:
-
A (typically biologically male or intersex, but sometimes biologically female) member of a somewhat feminine third gender found in India and Pakistan.
The subjects of this study are hijras or the "third sex" of India, individuals who occupy a unique, liminal space between male and female, sacred and profane.
1995, Gayatri Reddy, With Respect to Sex: Negotiating Hijra Identity in South India (Worlds of Desire: The Chicago Series on Sexuality, Gender, & Culture) https://web.archive.org/web/20070529055321/http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/16479.ctlWhile videographers were shooting him as he sat on the floor among a group of male and female sex workers, two transgender (male-to-female) hijras came to sit next to him, one on either side.
2013, Raymond A. Smith, Global HIV/AIDS Politics, Policy, and Activism, →ISBN, page 208:Even more surprisingly, there are female hijras, women who were born women, who are drawn into the gharanas by the attraction and apparent safety of the hierarchies' substitute for family life.
2011, AIDS Sutra: Untold Stories from India, →ISBN, page 111:Nanda profiles […] an uncastrated hijra who is married to a man and has an adopted son; and a hermaphrodite hijra […]
2013, Reader's Guide to Lesbian and Gay Studies, →ISBN, page 280:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| hijrah | alternative | lexicographic | |
| hijada | alternative | lexicographic | |
| hejra | alternative | lexicographic | |
| hijara | alternative | lexicographic | |
| hijras | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Relateds
Translations (28)
gu હીજડો (third gender) · pl hidźra (third gender) · hi खुसरा (third gender) · bn হিজড়া (third gender) · pa ਹੀਜੜਾ (third gender) · hi हिजड़ा m हीजड़ा (third gender) · ta திருநங்கை (third gender) · fr hijra (third gender) · hi ख़्वाजा सिरा (third gender) · ur خواجہ سرا (third gender) · hi नपुंसक (third gender) · pt hijra (third gender) · ja ひじゅらー (third gender) · pa ਹਿਜੜਾ (third gender) · fr hidjra (third gender) · fi hidžra (third gender) · mr हिजडा (third gender) · hi खस्सी (third gender) · ur ہجڑا (third gender) · or ହିଜଡ଼ (third gender) · pa ਖ਼ੁਸਰਾ (third gender) · si හීජිරො (third gender) · fi hijra (third gender) · ur ہیجڑا (third gender) · ru хи́джра (third gender) · ja ヒジュラー (third gender) · de Hijra (third gender) · pa ਖੁਸਰਾ (third gender)