to observe purdah

9.9

To stay out of public and not show their face or body for modesty, usually by women

phrasal verb

: practicar el purdah

Women in the village still observe purdah as part of their cultural traditions.

Examples

Many families expect their daughters to observe purdah beginning in adolescence.
In many cultures, it is common for women to observe purdah to maintain their modesty and privacy.
She chose not to observe purdah after moving to the city.
She decided to observe purdah during the festival.
Many women in the community observe purdah for cultural reasons.
The community celebrated her decision to observe purdah during the important religious ceremonies.
As part of their tradition, some families require their daughters to observe purdah when in public.

Antonyms

to reveal

∞ 2.3

Show something that was hidden or secret

Surface Forms

observe purdah infinitive

observed purdah past

observed purdah past participle

observing purdah present participle

observes purdah third person singular

Morphology

observe + purdah

Both constituents are semantically compositional: 'observe' means to follow or respect a rule/tradition and 'purdah' denotes the practice of female seclusion. A B1 learner who knows these two words can directly infer that 'observe purdah' means to follow or practice purdah, so the phrase is transparently derived from its parts.

Etymology

Observe purdah comes from the word purdah, which in Persian and Urdu means 'curtain' or 'veil' and originally referred to a cloth used to separate women from public view. So the image of women kept behind a curtain explains why the phrase means 'to stay out of public view', often for reasons of modesty.