jilbab (1966)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

The latest batch of OED3 draft entries includes:

jilbab, n.
A body-length outer garment, traditionally covering the head and
hands, worn esp. by Arab Muslim women.
[first cite 1990]

Books from Pakistan on Google Book Search provide significant antedatings:

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1966 C.S. Imam _Studies in Islam_ 98 O' Prophet! Tell your wives and
your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks
(over-all sheets -- Jilbab --) close round them.
http://books.google.com/books?id=lnF5Jhl_T4IC
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1972 Mazhar-ul-Haq Khan _Purdah and Polygamy_ 29 The women used to put
on _jilbab_ or over-garment, drawn over the face to ward off the
excited eyes of some miscreant, as required by the Quran.
http://books.google.com/books?id=K8REDazHkkkC
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--Ben Zimmer

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