khedam خدام
Algerian Darja · noun
“khedam” (خدام) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning worker, employee.
Meanings
- worker, employee
- hardworking
- working (of a device)
Usage
Khaddam means a worker, an employee or a laborer; the plural is khaddamin. As an adjective, it means "who has a job" (rani khaddam, I work, I have a job) or "hardworking" to praise someone active: rajel khaddam. For a machine, a car or a phone, khaddam (feminine khaddama) means "that works, that functions": ttilifoun mazal khaddam. The word is neutral and very common. Note: in the Arabic of other regions it can suggest a servant; in Algeria, the dominant sense is simply "person who works".
Example
خويا خدّام في شركة تاع البني.
khouya khaddam f charika ta3 lbni.
“My brother works at a construction company.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khedam” but also “khaddam”, “5edam”, “khdam” and “khedem”. 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 “khedam” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “working, employed”; “running, functioning (device)”: khddam in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “worker, labourer, employee”; “working, employed”: khaddem in Tunisian.