hajib
hajib noun: an official of a Muslim court, of varied importance, initially controlling access to the caliph, but later very powerful; a chamberlain. Also the alternative form of hijab.
Noun
hajib (plural hajibs)
- An official of a Muslim court, of varied importance, initially controlling access to the caliph, but later very powerful; a chamberlain.
- The hajib was always a man of consequence; being close to the caliph he was always in a position to give messages and ask favours and, most of all, he controlled access to his master.1981, Hugh Kennedy, The Early Abbasid Caliphate: A Political History, page 103
- By our period — the mid-ninth century — the office of hajib doubled with that of the head of the palace guard, which signifies, inter alia, that he was one of the Turkish amirs.1997, Samuel Edward Finer, The History of Government from the Earliest Times: The Intermediate Ages, page 705
Also used as
hajib is also the alternative form of hijab.
Forms of hajib
| plural | hajibs |
|---|
Origin of hajib
The court title derives from Arabic الحَاجِب (al-ḥājib, “chamberlain”). Use of the word to designate a headscarf derives from Arabic حَاجِب (ḥājib, “concealing, covering, eyebrow”), from حَجَبَ (ḥajaba, “to veil, to cover, to screen”) (whence also hijab).
Questions about hajib
- What does hajib mean?
- Hajib means an official of a Muslim court, of varied importance, initially controlling access to the caliph, but later very powerful; a chamberlain.
- What part of speech is hajib?
- Hajib is a noun.
- What is the plural of hajib?
- The plural of hajib is hajibs.
Words near hajib in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hajib (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “hajib.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hajib. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.