morabba3 مربّع
Moroccan Darija · noun
“morabba3” (مربّع) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning square (geometric shape).
Meanings
- square (geometric shape)
- square, square-shaped
Usage
Morabba3 refers to the geometric shape of the square and is also used as an adjective to describe an object of square shape. It appears in area measurements: "mitro morabba3" (square meter), very common when talking about apartments or land. Pronunciation varies: morabba3, closer to standard Arabic, or mrebba3 and morbba3 in fast speech. The feminine is morabba3a. Colloquially, saying that someone's head is "mrebba3" can mock a square head or a stubborn character, depending on context.
Example
راه راسو مربع
rah rasou mrebe3
“He has a square head.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “morabba3” but also “morbba3”, “mrebba3”, “morebba3” and “morba3”. 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.
Type “morabba3” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “square (shape, square piece)”; “square (unit: square metre, kilometre)”: mrabba3 in Tunisian.