purdah
/ˈpɜːdə/
"purdah" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“purdah” is uncommon English (frequency #88,748 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #88,748
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A curtain, especially one used in some Hindu or Muslim traditions to conceal women from the gaze of people, particularly men and strangers.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | purdah |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpɜːdə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #88,748 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “purdah” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
purdah is uncommon English at frequency #88,748 among 46,516 “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
- 1A curtain, especially one used in some Hindu or Muslim traditions to conceal women from the gaze of people, particularly men and strangers.
- 2A long veil or other attire covering most of the body, worn by women in some Muslim societies.
- 3The 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.
- 4Keeping apart; isolation, seclusion; also, concealment, secrecy.
- 5The 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.
- 6A striped cotton cloth which is used to make curtains.
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
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Using “purdah”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-U-R-D-A-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpɜːdə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.