haydoura هيدورة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“haydoura” (هيدورة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning tanned sheepskin with wool.
Meanings
- tanned sheepskin with wool
- sheepskin rug
Usage
The word haydoura means a tanned sheepskin that keeps its wool. It is used as a small rug, as a floor seat, or for prayer. It is closely tied to the Feast of the Sacrifice: after the slaughter, the skin is salted, dried in the sun, then washed and tanned at home or handed to a craftsman. Many families give it away or sell it, for lack of time to process it. It is a feminine noun. The common plural is hyader. Not to be confused with worked leather (jeld), which no longer has wool.
Example
خرّجي الهيدورة للشمس باش تنشف
kherrji lhaydoura l chems bach tenchef
“Take the sheepskin out into the sun so it dries.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “haydoura” but also “hidoura”, “haydora”, “hydoura” and “8aydoura”. 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 “haydoura” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “sheepskin used as a rug”; “sheep's fleece”: hidoura in Algerian.