3atrous عتروس
Algerian Darja · noun
“3atrous” (عتروس) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning billy goat, male goat.
Meanings
- billy goat, male goat
- stubborn or swaggering man (figurative)
Usage
3atrous means the billy goat, the breeding male of the goat (3anza). The plural is 3tares. The word is common in rural and pastoral vocabulary, and around Eid, when people talk about the animals. Figuratively and informally, it describes a stubborn, self-assured or strutting man. Depending on the tone, it is mocking or downright insulting. Pitfall: the word does not mean the kid, which is jdi. Nor is it a generic term for "goat".
Example
شرا عتروس للعيد
chra 3atrous l'3id
“He bought a billy goat for Eid.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3atrous” but also “atrous”, “3etrous”, “3atros” and “atros”. 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 “3atrous” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “billy goat, male kid”; “boorish or stubborn man (derogatory)”: 3atrous in Tunisian.