English
purdah
Purdah comes from Classical Persian پرده ‘curtain’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- ‘flat’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₂-1‘flat’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Classical Persianc. 900–presentپرده1pardah‘curtain’
- Englishearliest quotation 1909purdah1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English purdah
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1909, Rudyard Kipling, A Wayside Comedy: “As she passed through the dining-room she heard, behind…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₂-Wiktionary, English purdah‘flat’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Classical Persianc. 900–presentپردهWiktionary, English purdahpardah‘curtain’
- Englishearliest quotation 1909purdahWiktionary, English purdah. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1909, Rudyard Kipling, A Wayside Comedy: “As she passed through the dining-room she heard, behind…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- ‘flat’
field, floor, explain, plane, explanation, plain, palm, clan, archipelago, explanatory, playa, fluke, placenta, planar, parma, palatine, esplanade, flounder, placate, plantar, implacable, pelagic, lech, flay, polonium, veld, llano, floe, planta, 49 more
Today it means
noun A curtain, especially one used in some Hindu or Muslim traditions to conceal women from the gaze of people, particularly men and strangers.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “purdah”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- / purdah