7mmes حمّص
Moroccan Darija · noun
“7mmes” (حمّص) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning chickpeas.
Meanings
- chickpeas
Usage
The word 7mmes is a collective noun: it means chickpeas in general. It goes into harira, couscous or tagines. It is also sold in the street, boiled and seasoned with cumin: "7mmes b l-kamoun", served in a paper cone or a small bowl. The word recalls "hummus" on menus, but in Morocco it first means the legume itself, not the Middle Eastern purée. The verb 7mmes, from the same root, means to roast or toast.
Example
شريت حمص بالكامون من الكروسة
chrit 7mmes b l-kamoun mn l-karossa
“I bought chickpeas with cumin from the cart.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7mmes” but also “7mms”, “7ommos”, “hommos”, “7ummus” and “7ammas”. 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 “7mmes” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “chickpeas”: 7ommos in Tunisian.