purdah

/ˈpɜːdə/

//ˈpɜːdə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"purdah" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“purdah” is uncommon English (frequency #88,748 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#88,748
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A curtain, especially one used in some Hindu or Muslim traditions to conceal women from the gaze of people, particularly men and strangers.

Corpus desk

Index EN-purdah · purdah · English

purdah · rank #88,748 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #88,748
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH purchasable

Nearest frequency peer: purchasable (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “purdah”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “purdah” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for purdah
PropertyValue
Headwordpurdah
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpɜːdə/
Letters6
Frequency rank#88,748
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “purdah” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).purdahfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “purchasable” (#88,747), “pushup” (#88,750), “psychomotor” (#88,745). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “purdah” is #88,748. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

purdah is uncommon English at frequency #88,748 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpɜːdə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 6 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for purdah, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Hindustani پردہ / पर्दा (pardā), and its etymon Classical Persian پرده (pardah, “curtain; screen; (archaic) veil”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat”). The correct English form is purdah, spelled P-U-R-D-A-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    A curtain, especially one used in some Hindu or Muslim traditions to conceal women from the gaze of people, particularly men and strangers.
  2. 2
    A long veil or other attire covering most of the body, worn by women in some Muslim societies.
  3. 3
    The situation or system of secluding women from the gaze of people, particularly men and strangers, in some Muslim and Hindu traditions, by using a curtain or screen, and/or wearing a face veil or attire covering most of the body.
  4. 4
    Keeping apart; isolation, seclusion; also, concealment, secrecy.
  5. 5
    The period between the announcement of an election or referendum and its conclusion, during which civil servants refrain from making policy announcements or taking actions that could be seen as advantageous to certain candidates in the election.
  6. 6
    A striped cotton cloth which is used to make curtains.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how purdah appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. As she passed through the dining-room she heard, behind the purdah that cloaked the drawing-room door, her husband's voice, […]
  2. "Come and see my wife a little then," said Hamidullah, and they spent twenty minutes behind the purdah.

Etymology

Borrowed from Hindustani پردہ / पर्दा (pardā), and its etymon Classical Persian پرده (pardah, “curtain; screen; (archaic) veil”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat”).

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "purdah"?
"purdah" is spelled P-U-R-D-A-H. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɜːdə/.
What does "purdah" mean?
As a noun, "purdah" means: A curtain, especially one used in some Hindu or Muslim traditions to conceal women from the gaze of people, particularly men and strangers.
How do you pronounce "purdah"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "purdah" is /ˈpɜːdə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "purdah"?
Borrowed from Hindustani پردہ / पर्दा (pardā), and its etymon Classical Persian پرده (pardah, “curtain; screen; (archaic) veil”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "purdah", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

pushup#88,750Platon#88,717pilfer#88,713Rogoff#88,785

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list