kharouf خروف
Algerian Darja · noun
“kharouf” (خروف) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning sheep, lamb.
Meanings
- sheep, lamb
- Eid sheep
Usage
Kharouf means sheep, in particular the one that is bought and sacrificed for Eid al-Adha ("kharouf el 3id"). It also appears in cooking: kharouf mechwi, "grilled mutton", or ras el kharouf. The adult horned ram is usually called kebch, and the ewe na3dja. The common plural is khrfan. Note: applied to a person, kharouf can mean "sheep" in the sense of a naive follower, as in English, and is then mocking.
Example
شرينا خروف العيد البارح
chrina kharouf el 3id lbare7
“We bought the Eid sheep yesterday.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “kharouf” but also “khrouf”, “5arouf”, “kharof” and “kherouf”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.
Type “kharouf” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “lamb, young sheep”; “sheep (broad sense)”: khrouf in Moroccan.