me7kama محكمة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“me7kama” (محكمة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning court, courthouse.
Meanings
- court, courthouse
Usage
Me7kama means the court, both the institution and the building. It is heard in expressions such as "mcha lme7kama", "to go to court", or "3ndo me7kama", "he has a case in court". It should not be confused with mo7akama, "trial, judgment", which is close in form. The plural is m7akem. The word belongs to administrative vocabulary, but it is common in everyday conversation. People also say lme7kama to mean legal proceedings in general, for example a divorce or a dispute.
Example
خاصني نمشي للمحكمة غدا الصباح
khasni nmchi lme7kama ghedda sba7
“I have to go to court tomorrow morning.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “me7kama” but also “m7kama”, “mahkama”, “ma7kama” and “mehkama”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “me7kama” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “court”; “courthouse (the building)”: ma7kma in Tunisian.