ghemza غمزة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“ghemza” (غمزة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning wink.
Meanings
- wink
- discreet signal, hint
Usage
Ghemza is the verbal noun derived from ghmez: a wink, a brief signal made with the eye to someone. It is used mainly with dar, "to do", in dar lih ghemza "he winked at him". Depending on the situation, the gesture expresses complicity, mockery, or a request to keep quiet. By extension, the word can refer to a discreet hint, a message conveyed without spelling it out. The plural ghemzat is used for repeated winks.
Example
دار ليها غمزة وضحكات
dar liha ghemza w d7kat
“He winked at her, and there was laughter.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ghemza” but also “ghmza”, “8emza” and “ghamza”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 8 is light ha (ه) or ghayn (غ), depending on the writer.
Type “ghemza” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “wink”; “hint, discreet signal”: ghamza in Tunisian.