khiyat خيّاط
Moroccan Darija · noun
“khiyat” (خيّاط) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning tailor, dressmaker.
Meanings
- tailor, dressmaker
Usage
Lkhiyyat is the craftsman who sews or alters clothes: tailor, dressmaker. You go to him to shorten trousers or to have a jellaba or a caftan made, hence the expression "mchit l lkhiyyat" (I went to the tailor's). The feminine is khiyyata (seamstress). The related verb is khiyyet (to sew), and the trade is called lkhiyata. The word is common in all regions and remains in use despite ready-to-wear, because traditional made-to-measure tailoring is still very widespread.
Example
ديت الجلابة عند الخياط
dit jellaba 3nd lkhiyyat
“I took the jellaba to the tailor.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khiyat” but also “khayyat”, “5ayat”, “khiat”, “5iyat” and “5ayyat”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.