Hijaz
/hɪˈdʒɑːz/noun
A historical region of western Arabia that includes Mecca and Medina and borders the Red Sea.
Did you know?The name is commonly connected to the Arabic root ḥ-j-z, meaning “to separate” or “to restrain,” reflecting the region’s position between the Red Sea coast and the Arabian interior.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*ḥ-j-z
“To separate, divide, restrain, or set apart”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
ḥijāz (حجاز)
“A barrier, partition, or separating region”
Early Islamic period
Arabic
al-Ḥijāz (الحجاز)
“The western Arabian region regarded as dividing the coastal Tihāmah from the inland Najd”
12th–14th Century
Arabic
al-Ḥijāz
“The region containing Mecca and Medina, central sites of Islamic pilgrimage”
17th–19th Century
English
Hedjaz / Hejaz
“Historical English spellings for the western Arabian region”
Modern English
English
Hijaz
“The established modern English transliteration of the Arabic regional name”