3tba عتبة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“3tba” (عتبة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning threshold (of a door).
Meanings
- threshold (of a door)
- step (of a staircase)
Usage
3tba refers to the threshold of a door, the stone or step one crosses to enter. One says l3tba d dar ("the threshold of the house") and wa9ef f l3tba ("standing in the doorway"). The word carries symbolic values: one speaks of no longer crossing someone's threshold to mean that one no longer goes to their home. It can also refer to a single step; for a whole staircase, droj is used instead. The plural is 3tbat. The word is common and neutral, in all registers.
Example
گلس فالعتبة كيتسناك
gles f l3tba kaytsennak
“He sat on the threshold waiting for you.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3tba” but also “3taba” and “3etba”. 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 “3tba” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “doorstep, threshold”; “stair step”: 3atba in Tunisian.