msah مسح

Algerian Darja · verb

“msah” (مسح) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning to wipe, clean by rubbing.

Meanings

1. to wipe, clean by rubbing
2. to erase, delete
3. to mop the floor

Usage

Msaḥ means to wipe or clean a surface by rubbing: msaḥ ttabla, "he wiped the table". It is also used for erasing or deleting: msaḥ le message, msaḥ ttableau. For the floor, one says msaḥ l'gaa, "to mop". Conjugation: msaḥt, msaḥ, msaḥat; imperfective nemsaḥ, yemsaḥ. The verbal noun masḥ is heard in masḥ essabbat, "shoe polish". Figuratively, msaḥ fih means "to pin the blame on him", and msaḥ yeddih, "to wash one's hands of it". The verb is neutral and very common.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “msah” but also “mse7”, “msa7”, “mseh” and “amsah”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.

Type “msah” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to wipe”; “to erase, delete”: msa7 in Moroccan.

In Tunisian Derja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “wipe, clean by rubbing”; “erase, delete”: msa7 in Tunisian.