Phrase guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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noun
A member of a traditional transfeminine third gender in Pakistan and India since Mughal times.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Borrowed from Hindustani ख़्वाजा सिरा (xvājā sirā) / خواجہ سرا (xvāja sirā), ultimately partly from Classical Persian. Emphasizing the mismatch between their visible bodies (hazir) and the invisible soul (ruh), they presented the khwaja sira as a feminine soul that was stuck in a masculine body. In presenting this definition of their gender and seeking legitimacy for it, khwaja siras seek to define the distinctiveness of their soul. It is not just any feminine soul but one endowed with certain spiritual qualities.1
