hegira

Meanings

1. 1nouncountablefigurative

   A departure or escape from a dangerous or hostile place, especially one meant to be permanent.

   Grammar: Rare and often figurative: a hegira from the city.

   Patterns

   • a hegira from something
   • make a hegira to something

   The famine set off a hegira of villagers toward the capital.

   After the scandal, his hegira to a quiet coastal town began.

   The writer described her move abroad as a hegira from small-town gossip.

2. 2nounproperreligion

   The journey of the prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE, which marks the start of the Islamic calendar.

   Grammar: In this sense usually capitalized: the Hegira.

   Patterns

   • the Hegira of Muhammad

   The Islamic calendar counts years from the Hegira.

   Historians discuss how the Hegira changed the early Muslim community.

   The lecture covered events before and after the Hegira.

Word forms

Common combinations

the Hegira

The Hegira took place in 622 CE.

a mass hegira

War caused a mass hegira from the border towns.

year of the Hegira

Dates are counted from the year of the Hegira.

undertake a hegira

They undertook a hegira in search of safety.

Synonyms and how they differ

exodus

Exodus means a large group leaving a place, while hegira can be one person or group and often suggests fleeing danger.

flight

Flight is a general escape, whereas hegira sounds literary and often carries a sense of permanence.

migration

Migration is a movement that may be seasonal or planned, but hegira stresses fleeing for safety.

emigration

Emigration refers to leaving one's country to settle abroad, while hegira can also be a move within a country.

Opposites

Word family

Hijra noun

the more common modern spelling for the same event

hegira noun

also spelled hejira

Hijri adjective

relating to the Islamic calendar

Commonly confused: hegira or hijab?

Practice

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