3assas عساس

Algerian Darja · noun

“3assas” (عساس) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning guard, watchman.

Meanings

1. guard, watchman
2. parking attendant
3. lookout, watcher

Usage

3assas refers to a person in charge of guarding a place: a building, a construction site, a school, a car park, often at night. It is the common everyday word, more colloquial than the official term. The related verb, 3ess (y3ess), means "to keep watch, to stand guard" or "to lie in wait". Figuratively, someone who spies on others or watches everything they do is sometimes called a 3assas. The usual plural is 3essassa. The job is a modest one, and the word can take on a slightly demeaning tone depending on the context.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3assas” but also “3essas”, “assas” and “aassas”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.

Type “3assas” on the Arabic keyboard

In Tunisian Derja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “guard, watchman”; “parking attendant”: 3assas in Tunisian.