l3asr لعاصر
Moroccan Darija · noun
“l3asr” (لعاصر) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning afternoon prayer (ʿasr).
Meanings
- afternoon prayer (ʿasr)
- mid-afternoon
Usage
Lʿasr first refers to the third daily prayer, the afternoon one. By extension, it is a common time marker: mʿa lʿasr (around the time of the afternoon prayer), mn baʿd lʿasr (after the ʿasr). Moroccans often set appointments this way rather than with a precise hour. One says sella lʿasr (he prayed the ʿasr) and dden lʿasr (the call to the ʿasr has sounded). It is not the general word for "the afternoon", which is rather baʿd lghda or lʿchiya.
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “l3asr” but also “l3aser” and “la3sr”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.