khobza خبزة

Moroccan Darija · noun

“khobza” (خبزة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning a loaf, a round of bread.

Meanings

1. a loaf, a round of bread
2. livelihood, source of income

Usage

Khobza is the form that refers to one loaf of bread: a round loaf or a baguette. It is used for counting: joj khobzat (two loaves). Khobz, by contrast, refers to bread as a substance. Figuratively, khobza means one's livelihood, the work or business one lives from: hadi khobzti (this is my livelihood), 9leb 3la chi khobza (look for a way to earn a living). This figurative sense is informal and very common.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khobza” but also “5obza”, “khoubza” and “khbza”. 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.

Type “khobza” on the Arabic keyboard

In Tunisian Derja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “a loaf of bread”; “livelihood, daily bread”: khobza in Tunisian.