α. 1700s edit, 1800s– iddat, 1800s– iddut.
β. 1800s– iddah Brit. 
/ɪˈdɑː/, U.S. /ɪˈdɑ/.
iddatn.
/ɪˈdʌt/, U.S. /ɪˈdət/ Islam.
A period of time during which a divorced or widowed woman may not remarry, originally observed in order to ascertain if a child was conceived prior to divorce or widowhood (and as a mourning period in the latter instance).Typically the period to be observed is three months in the case of divorce, and four months and ten days in the case of widowhood.
ΚΠ
1791 C. Hamilton tr. Hedàya I. xii. 359 The Edit is made incumbent in a case of divorce for the purpose of ascertaining whether the woman be pregnant.
1843 Baron Mac Guckin de Slane tr. Ibn Khallikan Biogr. Dict. I. 376 The iddat denotes a certain period of time which must elapse before a widow or divorced woman can legally contract a new marriage.
1865 N. B. E. Baillie Digest Moohummudan Law 21 If a decree were pronounced for a divorce on false testimony with the woman's knowledge, she might lawfully intermarry with another husband after the expiration of her iddut.
1907 Columbia Law Rev. 7 111 On the death of the husband the period of ‘iddah’ was one year.
1960 Jrnl. Afr. Law 4 14 The period of ‘iddat’ had not been accomplished.
2000 Newsline (Karachi) Feb. 62/1 The objections are specific to the different periods of iddat prescribed for different circumstances, and to the time from which this period begins to run.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1791