gawri ڭاوري

Moroccan Darija · noun

“gawri” (ڭاوري) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning foreigner, European, Westerner.

Meanings

1. foreigner, European, Westerner
2. non-Muslim

Usage

Gawri means a foreigner, especially a European or Westerner, generally fair-skinned. The feminine is gawriya and the plural is gwer or gawriyin. The word is common and most often neutral: jaw chi gwer l lmdina (some foreigners came to town). Depending on the tone, it can take a mocking or distant nuance. By extension, a Moroccan whose manners are seen as "Western" is called gawri: wella gawri (he has become a real European). The adjective bel gawri means "in the European way". For an English speaker, it is useful to know that the word may be applied to them too.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “gawri” but also “gaouri”, “gauri”, “gaori” and “gawriya”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Type “gawri” on the Arabic keyboard

In Algerian Darja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “European, Westerner”; “non-Muslim foreigner”: gaouri in Algerian.