abaya
- noun
- /əˈbaɪə/
- Mona, 37, wears the hijab and also an abaya, the head-to-toe black cloak, whenever she ventures out of her home in the central Rusafa district to her job inside the Green Zone.
- wear the abaya
- black abaya
- woman in an abaya
Examples
-
My sister was told point-blank to wear the abaya or else.
Academic text (2007) -
Most are already socialized to do so and thus, some Muslim women will say that they do not feel that anyone is forcing them to wear the headscarf; they will, in a private conversation, denounce the face veil, the burqa, the chador, and the Saudi abaya.
Academic text (2010) -
"She wants you to take her picture," a man said when the old woman in the black abaya came up to me.
Blog text (23) -
I hope you don't mind me saying, but that, um, abaya, it really makes your, your skin glow.
-
I'm wearing like this jumpsuit with like this abaya with like Lacey arms and that and no one else is ready.
-
On campus, women do not have to cover up and wear the baggy black gown, called an abaya, which is mandatory everywhere else in Saudi Arabia.
Blog text (14) -
America is a foreign nation to me when I come home; I hear the Arabic language, see abaya-clad women, and also hear the disgusting ghetto black jive talk when I do come home more than I hear English.
Blog text (30) -
The abaya (right) in Saudi Arabia is also not synonymous with a face-covering, although add-ons to the garment may cover the face. In Iran, women do go in public with their faces unveiled in chadors, which are similar to a cloak held closed with the hands.
Academic text (2010) -
On every flank of the protesters were groups of women in hijab and abaya: anyone who tried to start a confrontation—police, counter-protesters, or thugs—would find themselves facing off against mothers, children, and grannies.
Blog text (17) -
In some cultures, women choose to wear an abaya to maintain modesty in public.
Synonyms
A long loose robe with a hood worn in North Africa
How Covered
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word abaya comes from the Arabic word abāyah, which means 'cloak' or 'loose garment', so an abaya is a long, loose robe worn over clothes in public.