chib شيب
Moroccan Darija · noun
“chib” (شيب) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning white hair, grey hair.
Meanings
- white hair, grey hair
- old age (figurative)
Usage
Chib means white or grey hair, and by extension the signs of age. It is a collective noun: one says tle3 fih chib ("white hair has come up on him") with no plural marker. It often appears with the verb chref ("to grow old") and in figurative expressions. For example, tnewwed chib ("to turn hair white") is used for a very trying situation. Several popular proverbs use it. It should not be confused with chiba, which mainly means the wormwood added to tea.
Example
شرفت الدرجات شعري ولا كلو شيب
chreft ldarajat che3ri wla koulou chib
“I've aged so much that my hair has all turned white.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “chib” but also “shib”, “cheeb” and “chiib”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “chib” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to make old, wear out”; “to turn grey, to age”: chayeb in Tunisian.