7mmam حمّام
Moroccan Darija · noun
“7mmam” (حمّام) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning public bath, hammam.
Meanings
- public bath, hammam
- steam bath, hammam session
- bathroom
Usage
The word first refers to the neighborhood public bath, where people go to wash in the steam, often once a week. You say "mcha l-7mmam" (he went to the hammam) or "ghadi nmchi l-7mmam". "7mmam beldi" refers to the traditional hammam. Hours are often separate for men and women. The word can also mean a hot bath taken at home, and, more rarely, the bathroom of a home. Pitfall for an English speaker: in Morocco the hammam is an ordinary place for hygiene and socializing, not a luxury spa.
Example
مشا ل حمّام
mcha l 7emmam
“He went to the hammam.”
Forms
| plural | 7mmamat |
|---|
Forms as recorded in DODa, in its spelling.
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7mmam” but also “7emmam”, “hammam”, “7ammam” and “hamam”. 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 “7mmam” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “public bathhouse, hammam”; “hot spring, spa town”: hammam in Algerian.