Muharram

plural Muharrams · alternative Moharram · alternative Mohurram · alternative Mohurrum · alternative Muharrem

1. IslamThe first month of the Islamic calendar, when many Islamic communities hold a festival commemorating the deaths of the grandsons of Muhammad.First known use 17th c.

   ‘I don't much believe in this discussing – besides, I'm so dead with all the extra work Mohurram's bringing, if you'll excuse me.’

   1924, EM Forster, A Passage to India, Penguin, published 2005, page 77

   3 more examples

   These, hearing nothing of the Collector-Sahib for some time, and heartily despising the Hindu Sub-Judge, arranged to start a little Mohurrum riot of their own.

   1888, Rudyard Kipling, “His Chance in Life”, in Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio, published 2005, page 56

   It was unfortunate, moreover, that he arrived in Teheran in January 1829 during the holy month of Muharram, when feelings run high and the faithful slash themselves with swords and pour glowing cinders on their heads.

   1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, page 100

   […]were two Muharrams in the first year, the first being the beginning of the new year and the other the added month. The number of months was 13. After the passage of two or three years, when the period for the intercalated month had come to[…]

   1994, ʻAbd al-Raḥmān Jabartī, Thomas Philipp, Guido Schwald, ʻAbd Al-Raḥmān Al-Jabartī's History of Egypt: ʻajāʾib Al-āthār Fī ʾl-tarājim Waʾl-akhbār, →ISBN, page 4

   Synonyms: Muharram al-Haram

2. A Shiite festival held during its first ten days; Ashura.

   It is now clear that the term Hobson-Jobson was originally a deprecating Anglo-Indian slang term for the Muharram used particularly in the army and merchant navy but also more widely.

   2014, James Lambert, “A Much Tortured Expression: A New Look At `Hobson-Jobson'”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 27, number 1, page 67