zin زين
Algerian Darja · adjective
“zin” (زين) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning beautiful, pretty.
Meanings
- beautiful, pretty
- good, of good quality
- beauty (used as a noun)
Usage
Zin describes what is beautiful or pleasant: a person, an object, a place. It is also used in a moral sense for someone good, as in « qalbou zin », he has a good heart. As a noun, it means beauty: « zinha », her beauty. The feminine is zina and the plural is zinin. The related verb zeyyen, with a doubled consonant, means to decorate or beautify. Do not confuse it with zin. Zin is also a first name. In that case it is a proper noun and not the adjective.
Example
شريت فراش زين بزاف
chrit frach zin bezzaf
“I bought a very nice mattress.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “zin” but also “zine”, “zeen”, “zain” and “zayn”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “zin” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to decorate, adorn”; “to beautify, make beautiful”: zyyen in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “beauty”; “beautiful (zin, zina)”: zin in Tunisian.