Hijra

Meanings

1. The flight of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Yathrib (later Medina) in 622 ce, which forms the first year of the Islamic era (ah 1).
2. AH: the Islamic era, dated from the Hijra.
3. The Islamic calendar, dated from the Hijra.

1. A eunuch in South Asia, especially one who dresses as a woman.
2. A (typically biologically male or intersex, but sometimes biologically female) member of a somewhat feminine third gender found in India and Pakistan.

1. Alternative letter-case form of Hijra.
2. Any similar flight or emigration to a better place.
3. Emigration from a non-Muslim country to a Muslim one.

Etymology

From Arabic هِجْرَة (hijra, “departure, exodus”), used in reference to Muhammad’s flight from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE, from the verb هَجَرَ (hajara, “emigrate, to abandon”). Doublet of Hegira, which went through Latin.