v. n. 1 A prohibiting (a thing or act), making (it) unlawful. 2. A putting (one’s self) into a state of religious inhibition for the purpose of performing the pilgrimage at Mekka. (Strangers do this on reaching the Mekka frontier; citizens, at home. It lasts until the pilgrimage is completed. A special dress is worn; hair and nail-cutting are prohibited, as are conjugal intercourse and slaughter of any living thing. Its termination and the return to the ordinary state of life, dress, etc. is termed احلال, q. v.).

s. Name of several handsome kinds of woollen cloth, usually with a long twisted pile on the face, used as sofa-covers, etc. (Probably first used, in some shape, as the special pilgrim garb at Mekka.).