mendil منديل

Moroccan Darija · noun

“mendil” (منديل) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning handkerchief, small scarf.

Meanings

1. handkerchief, small scarf
2. striped cloth of Jbala women

Usage

Mendil means a cloth handkerchief or a small scarf. In northern Morocco, the word also refers to the red and white striped cloth that Jbala women wear tied around the waist. It is often associated with the Chefchaouen region. For paper tissues, people rather say kleenex or mendil dyal l-kaghet. The plural is mnadel.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mendil” but also “mndil”, “mandil” and “mindil”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Type “mendil” on the Arabic keyboard

In Tunisian Derja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “handkerchief, tissue”; “headscarf”: mendil in Tunisian.

How to say “handkerchief” in Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian