kelwa كلوة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“kelwa” (كلوة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning kidney.
Meanings
- kidney
- kidney (as food)
Usage
Feminine noun, plural klawi. This is the usual word for the organ, used in medicine as well as in everyday speech: l7jer f lkelwa, "kidney stones"; drrni f klawi, "my kidneys hurt". In butchery and cooking, it also means kidneys as meat, especially lamb or sheep kidneys, which are grilled at Eid, for example. With a possessive pronoun, it is pronounced kelwti, "my kidney". The word does not refer to the lower back as a whole: for the back, people say dher instead.
Example
كيضرّني فكلوتي
kaydrrni f kelwti
“My kidney hurts.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “kelwa” but also “klwa” and “kalwa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “kelwa” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “kidney (organ)”; “kidney (as food)”: kelwa in Tunisian.