Aurat is an ugly word that comes into Hindi from Arabic via Urdu in the 1500's, taken from Arabic and/or Persian. It refers to the dark, dirty, hidden place on a woman's body. Modern speakers of Hindi are unaware of the actual original meaning of the word Aurat. It is often unconsciously used in every day speech along with the word "Admi" meaning Man. HINDI SPEAKERS MUST STOP USING THE WORD AURAT TO MEAN WOMAN!!

The etymology of the Hindi word “Aurat” औरत, commonly used in India to refer to “woman”, came into use in India in the 16th century due to the introduction of Urdu words into the Hindi vocabulary. The word originally comes from Arabic, meaning the dark, dirty, hidden place on a woman’s body. Speakers of Hindi are unaware of etymological origins of the word “aurat”: Arabic عورت (ʿawra, “genitals; nudity”).

Woman is commonly referred to as "Aurat" in Hindi. Hindi has taken lot of words from persian /Arabic and of course words from Sanskrit. Now, all this is fine, but sometimes we take words which are culturally inapplicable in India and that is where we should draw the line. I was apalled to know that "Aurat" means private parts in Arabic as a derogatory term to a woman.

Here is complete breakdown

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In Persian and Kurdish, the word ‘awrat has been used to mean 'woman'. In Persian, this use of the word is uncommon and a bit archaic. But In Urdu, ‘aurat is practically the only way to say 'woman'. Although it comes from the Arabic word ‘awrah, this word is not used to mean 'woman' in Arabic.

The original Arabic word ‘awrah comes from the root ‘ayn-wâw-râ’. The basic verb of this root, ‘awira / ya‘waru, means 'to be blind in one eye, to be one-eyed'. One derived verbal form of this root is ‘awwara / yu‘awwiru 'to deprive of one eye; to damage, mar, spoil'. Some nouns derived from this root meaning are ‘awâr 'fault, blemish, defect, flaw, imperfection' and a‘war (m.) ‘awrâ’ (f.) 'one-eyed'.

The word ‘awrah itself means 'defectiveness, faultiness, deficiency, imperfection; pudendum, genitals; weakness, weak spot'. As a technical term in Islamic law, the extended sense of 'pudendum' has been defined to mean the part of the body that must be covered for the sake of basic decency: for men, from the navel to the knees, and for women, the whole body except for the face, hands, and the feet. Some Muslim jurists over the centuries, with no justification in the sources of Sharî‘ah, increased the definition of woman's ‘awrah to mean the entire woman, with nothing excepted. This fit in with the institution of "purdah" which restricted women to their homes and made them cover their faces. One ruling of the veil, applied in some Arab countries, said that women had to cover one eye and leave the other uncovered to see with (which directly goes back to the original meaning of having only one eye).

The view of woman as nothing more than something to be completely covered explains how the meaning of the word ‘awrah became transferred from a bodily defect to the very identity of Woman herself. It is a reflection of the social status of woman in India, confined to purdah and completely veiled, that in Urdu Woman can only be spoken of as "she whose entire being is veiled." But what is worse is the original semantic implication still underlying this word: defect, deformity, weakness. It wrongs all womankind to designate them with such a derogatory term. The language we use affects the way we perceive reality. Calling Woman a "defect" is a putdown that continually lowers her social and even existential status. To give women the respect they deserve, Urdu speakers need to stop calling them "‘aurat" and use another word. Given the rich resources from which Urdu draws its vocabulary, that would not be at all difficult. We could use Arabic imra’ah, nisâ’; or Persian zan; or Sanskrit strî or mahilâ. Anything would be better than the present word ‘aurat. Since Persian is the source of most respectful words in Urdu, zan would probably be the best choice. It would then parallel the use of the Persian word mard meaning 'man'. Zan comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *gwen- which also produced Greek gunê and English queen.

Ref:   1. Meaning of Aurat - www.change.org,

2. Meaning of Aurat - www.creative.sulekha.com 

3. Malaysian gymnast gets brickbats for showing ‘aurat’, ‘vagina shape’ despite winning gold

Dictionary:

When I searched the meaning of nikah on WikiIslam (From WikiIslam, the online resource on Islam), below mentioned is the actual meaning.

The Arabic term nikah (or the root n-k-h) as meaning "sexual intercourse", or the contract of sexual intercourse, or marriage as a contract for sexual intercourse (for the payment received by the bride for nikah, see Purpose of the Mahr)

The New Encyclopedia of Islam

Literally the act of sexual intercourse, nikah is the term by which marriage is referred to in the Qur'an. Islamic law defines nikah as a civil contract whose main function is to render sexual relations between a man and woman licit. Any sexual relations outside the nikah contract constitute the crime of zina (illicit sexual relations) and are subject to punishment. In practice, nikah is enacted in a ceremony intertwined with religious symbolism and rituals such as the recitation of al-Fatiha, the first verse of the Qur'an, usually performed by religious functionaries, although Islamic law does not positively prescribe any service.

Women and international human rights law

In the medieval treatises, marriage was known as nikah, referring to licit sexual intercourse, and the marriage contract was understood as an agreement permitting the husband sexual access to the wife in return for his commitment to pay …

(Kelly Dawn Askin, Dorean M. Koenig, Women and international human rights law: vol.3, Transnational Pub, 2008)

Muslim women in law and society: annotated translation of al-Tahir al Haddad al-Ṭāhir Ḥaddād

The Arabic word for marriage is zawaj or nikah, the latter being derived from the verb nakaha (‘to have sexual intercourse’): cf. Qur. II: 230. Nikah is also used to denote the marriage contract (cf. ‘aqd, ‘aqd qiran).

Sidi Khalil, the prominent fourteenth-century Sunni Maliki jurist

When a woman marries, she sells a part of her person. In the market one buys merchandise, in marriage the husband buys the genital arvum mulieris. As in any other bargain and sale, only useful and ritually clean objects may be given in dower.

Mahr (Marital Price)

The Mahr (مهر) is a contract fee paid for by the groom to the bride in an Islamic marriage (see The Meaning of Nikah). Its purpose within Islamic law, as shown through the Islamic texts themselves and the rulings of fiqh, is to compensate the woman for the privilege of consummating the marriage through sexual intercourse with her. The mahr is an obligatory part of Islamic law. In the abscence of a mahr, the marriage is not valid.

The custom itself comes from pre-Islamic tribal times. In those times, the mahr would be paid from the bridegroom to the wali or guardian of the bride. Islam's laws change this custom by specifying the the mahr belongs directly to her. It is thus sui generis unlike the dowry or dower from western arranged marriage traditions. Islamic law has specifications about how and when it is to be given, and how these arrangements are to be made and taken care of in all cases, and there are many hadith traditions relating the prophets example on the subject. Although the explanations of the subject vary, the purpose of the mahr as explained by the Islamic texts is clear; it is a payment from a man to a woman; payment in full for the future sexual relations (nikah) the bridegroom will enjoy with her. This is illustrated by the requirement for a mahr in temporary "marriages", the statements of Prophet Muhammad, and the fact that a mahr cannot be taken back (except under extenuating circumstances) because the man has availed himself of the service for which it was payment.

Responsibilities of the Woman

In return for the mahr, the woman gives herself to her husband in the Islamic marriage contract. Her obedience to him is mandatory. If she does not fulfill his need for sex, barring a physical impairment or ritual cleanliness obligation of religion, it is the husbands right to force her to engage in sexual relations with him, and this is not considered rape. This is based clearly on the Qur'an:

References:

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