s. f. pl. Meṇḍhíáṇ. (M.), ) A braid in a woman's hair. The hair of unmarried girls is braided in three plaits, from the parting in the centre of the head down each side of the forehead to the ear. Seven days before marriage a party of the bridegroom's relations go to the house of the bride, when her plaits are solemnly undone by the oldest woman present, hence—meṇḍhí or meṇḍhíáṇ kholan means to marry a wife:—meṇḍhíáṇ wálí, s. f. A virgin:—meṇḍhíáṇ wálí kaṉak, s. f. Beardless wheat (dáúdí) the grain of which is tightly packed in the ear in a way not unlike the braids of a woman's hair—hence the name braided wheat:—meṇḍhíáṇ wálí kúṇ meṇḍhíáṇ dá máne, assáṇ pardesí, sáḍá Allah dá máne. The virgin has the glory of her braids, we are strangers, we have only the name of Allah.—Song; i. q. Meḍhí.