3dem عضم
Moroccan Darija · noun
“3dem” (عضم) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning bone.
Meanings
- bone
- pit, stone (of a fruit)
Usage
The word 3Dem means bone, in humans as well as in meat. The plural is 3Dam, and the unit noun 3Dma means "a bone". It often comes up in cooking vocabulary, for example lme3na bla 3Dem, "boneless meat". It is also used for the pit of certain fruits, such as the olive or the date. Figuratively, a person's thinness is described with ghir l3Dem, "nothing but bones". The word belongs to the everyday register.
Example
عطي العضم للكلب
3Ti l3Dem l lkelb
“Give the bone to the dog.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3dem” but also “3dm”, “3dam” and “3adm”. 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 “3dem” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “bone”; “meat bone (cooking)”: 3dham in Tunisian.