عورت

Arabic

Etymology 1

Verb

عورت (form I)

1. عَوِرْتُ (ʕawirtu) /ʕa.wir.tu/: first-person singular past active of عَوِرَ (ʕawira)
2. عَوِرْتَ (ʕawirta) /ʕa.wir.ta/: second-person masculine singular past active of عَوِرَ (ʕawira)
3. عَوِرْتِ (ʕawirti) /ʕa.wir.ti/: second-person feminine singular past active of عَوِرَ (ʕawira)
4. عَوِرَتْ (ʕawirat) /ʕa.wi.rat/: third-person feminine singular past active of عَوِرَ (ʕawira)

Etymology 2

Verb

عورت (form II)

1. عَوَّرْتُ (ʕawwartu) /ʕaw.war.tu/: first-person singular past active of عَوَّرَ (ʕawwara)
2. عَوَّرْتَ (ʕawwarta) /ʕaw.war.ta/: second-person masculine singular past active of عَوَّرَ (ʕawwara)
3. عَوَّرْتِ (ʕawwarti) /ʕaw.war.ti/: second-person feminine singular past active of عَوَّرَ (ʕawwara)
4. عَوَّرَتْ (ʕawwarat) /ʕaw.wa.rat/: third-person feminine singular past active of عَوَّرَ (ʕawwara)
5. عُوِّرْتُ (ʕuwwirtu) /ʕuw.wir.tu/: first-person singular past passive of عَوَّرَ (ʕawwara)
6. عُوِّرْتَ (ʕuwwirta) /ʕuw.wir.ta/: second-person masculine singular past passive of عَوَّرَ (ʕawwara)
7. عُوِّرْتِ (ʕuwwirti) /ʕuw.wir.ti/: second-person feminine singular past passive of عَوَّرَ (ʕawwara)
8. عُوِّرَتْ (ʕuwwirat) /ʕuw.wi.rat/: third-person feminine singular past passive of عَوَّرَ (ʕawwara)

Old Hindi

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian عَوْرَت (awrat), from Arabic عَوْرَة (ʕawra).

Noun

عَورَت ('vrt) f (Devanagari औरत) (Middle Hindi)

1. woman
   • c. 1420, Kabīr, Kabīr Vāṇī 280.6:

     जेती औरत मरदां सिरजे
     ए सब रूप तुम्हारा

     jetī aurat maradā̃ siraje
     e sab rūp tumhārā

     as many women [and] men were created
     these [are] all to your likeness

   • 1503, نَو سَرْہَار (nau sarhār), 61 :

     نَفَر چاکَر بانْد غُلام
     عَورَت مَرْد ہور خاص و عام

     nfr cakr band ġlam
     'vrt mrd hvr xaṣ v 'am

     These examples are from a period later than Middle Indo-Aryan.
2. pudendum

Descendants

• Braj: औरत (aurat)
• Bundeli: औरत (aurat)
• Hindustani:

  Hindi: औरत (aurat)

  Urdu: عَورَت (‘aurat)

• Kannauji: अउरत, औरत

Further reading

• “عورت”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic عَوْرَة (ʕawra).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ʔaw.ˈɾat]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔäw.ɾǽt̪]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔäw.ɾǽt̪]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔäw.ɾǽt̪]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔäw.ɾǽt̪]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔow.ɹǽt̪]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔäw.ɾǽt̪]

Readings
Classical reading?	awrat
Dari reading?	awrat
Iranian reading?	owrat
Tajik reading?	avrat

Noun

Dari	عورت
Iranian Persian
Tajik	аврат

عورت • ('owrat)

1. (Islam) the pudenda or pudendum, the privy parts; nakedness

   Synonyms: شرمگاه, زهار

2. (by extension) a woman; also, a wife

   Synonym: زن (zan)

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani: övrət
• → Bengali: অওরত (oōrot)
• → Garhwali: औरत (aurat)
• → Gujarati: ઓરત (orat)
• → Old Hindi:

  Devanagari script: औरत (aurata)

  Arabic script: عَورَت ('vrt)

  • Braj: औरत (aurat)
  • Bundeli: औरत (aurat)
  • Hindustani:

    Hindi: औरत (aurat)

    Urdu: عَورَت (‘aurat)

  • Kannauji: अउरत, औरत

• → Ottoman Turkish: عورت
  • Turkish: avrat
• Punjabi: ਅਉਰਤ (aurat)
• → Sindhi: aurata

  Arabic script: عَوْرَتَ

  Devanagari script: औरत

  Khudabadi script: 𑊹𑋙𑋍

• → Uzbek: avrat

References

• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “عورت”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian عَوْرَت (awrat), from Arabic عَوْرَة (ʕawra, “genitals; nudity”), where the shift to "woman" in early New Indo-Aryan happened because it is abominable to expose the female body in public (because of lust, male attention, sex, etc) hence hijabs and other forms of modesty. First attested in c. 1503 as Middle Hindi عَورَت ('vrt)/औरत (aurata).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ɔː.ɾət̪/
  • (Terai) IPA^(key): /oː.ɾət̪/

• Audio (Pakistan):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ət̪
• Hyphenation: عَو‧رَت

Noun

عَورَت • ('aurat) f (formal plural عَورات ('aurāt), Hindi spelling औरत)

1. woman

   Synonyms: زَن (zan), نار (nār)

   Antonyms: مَرْد (mard), آدْمی (ādmī)

   • 2001, Kishwar Naheed, translated by Rekhta, Kulliyat Dusht-e-Qais Mein Laila‎^[1], page 972:

     یہ ہم گنہ گار عورتیں ہیں جو اہل جبہ کی تمکنت سے نہ رعب کھائیں نہ جان بیچیں نہ سر جھکائیں نہ ہاتھ جوڑیں

     ye ham gunahgār aurtẽ ha͠i jo ahl-e-jubbā kī tamaknat se na rob khāẽ na jān becẽ na sar jhukāẽ na hāth joṛẽ

     It is we sinful women who are not awed by the grandeur of those who wear gowns, who don't sell our lives, who don't bow our heads, who don't fold our hands together

2. wife

   Synonyms: بِیوِی (bīvī), زَوجَہ (zauja), اَہْلِیَہ (ahliya), گَھر والی (ghar vālī)

3. (Islam) pudendum

Declension

Declension of عورت
	singular	plural
direct	عَورَت ('aurat)	عَورَتیں ('auratẽ)
oblique	عَورَت ('aurat)	عَورَتوں ('auratõ)
vocative	عَورَت ('aurat)	عَورَتو ('aurato)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• عَورَت ذَات ('aurat zāt)

Further reading

• “عورت”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Fallon, Platts, Qureshi, Shakespear (2024) “عورت”, in Digital Dictionaries of South Asia [Combined Urdu Dictionaries]