mekteb مكتب
Moroccan Darija · noun
“mekteb” (مكتب) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning office (workplace).
Meanings
- office (workplace)
- desk (furniture)
- destined, written (participle)
Usage
Mekteb first means the office, in the sense of a room or administrative premises: mekteb l-mdir, "the director's office". It also means the desk as a piece of furniture. You also hear the formal pronunciation maktab, especially in the names of institutions. Pitfall: the same spelling matches the participle mekteb or mektab, "written, destined". You find it for example in mekteb liya nmchi, "it is written that I will leave". It is the masculine of mektaba. Only context distinguishes the two words. The plural of "office" is mkateb.
Example
يالله رجعت من مكتب.
yallah rje3t men mekteb.
“I just got back from the office.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mekteb” but also “mktb”, “mektab”, “maktab” and “mkteb”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “mekteb” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “office, agency (place, service)”; “firm (consultancy, law)”: mekteb in Tunisian.