purdah
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈpərdə/
- Indian
:
purdah
- Barkow (1972) suggests that one reason why northern Nigerian women conform so readily to the rules of purdah is to enjoy much leisure time at home.
- women in purdah
Examples
-
Hinduism also has a practice called the Purdah, which encourages women to hide away and not show themselves in public.
Blog text (23) -
They shut women up in purdah like Afghans in the twentieth century.
Fiction book (2000) -
I believe in the purdah, but I would have told her you were my brother.
-
The French wanted to ban purdah.
-
If so, that would certainly seem to fit the Arab world and might explain why they are overly protective of their women (burkas, purdah).
Blog text (1) -
In order to achieve this, the argument goes, Muslims eschew family planning, practice polygamy, discourage women from gaining a secular education, and encourage customs like purdah, leaving their women illiterate and traditional.
Academic text (2002) -
In northern Nigeria, purdah (seclusion) exists as a viable institution in which married women, generally speaking, can only leave the house with due cause, such as to receive medical treatment, to attend marriages and funerals, to visit nearby relatives, or nowadays to go to one's place of work (Pitten 1987).
Academic text (1993) -
Not included in the discussion here are figures for widows and divorcees, who notably are more active traders than the secluded women, to whom the rules of purdah do not apply (see VerEecke 1989b for a discussion of this issue).
Academic text (1993) -
Unlike the sari, which was adapted to better fit with British expectations of dress, the hijab was worn by elite Muslim women who remained in "purdah" or seclusion, especially within the Mughal systems under British rule, so it had less opportunity to be molded to Western ideals.
Blog text (12) -
In some communities, purdah means that women often stay indoors away from men and strangers.
Synonyms
1
7.0
The practice of separating men and women into different places or groups
Women staying out of public view in some communities so men who are not relatives do not see them
Compounds
- Indian
Women staying out of public view in some communities so men who are not relatives do not see them
How Secluded
- Indian
1
9.9
22
6.5
- Offensive
84
6.1
8
3.2
55
4.1
Surface Forms
Etymology
Purdah originally meant a 'curtain' (Persian pardah) and people in South Asia used the same word for the custom of keeping women separate by veils, screens, or rules. So to observe purdah is to live 'behind a curtain', away from public view.