mostatil مستطيل
Moroccan Darija · noun
“mostatil” (مستطيل) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning rectangle (geometric shape).
Meanings
- rectangle (geometric shape)
- rectangular
Usage
Mostatil is the geometry term learned at school, where maths was long taught in Arabic. You hear it mostly in connection with homework, lessons, or when describing a precise shape. In everyday life, many Moroccans also say "rectangle" in French, especially those who studied in French. The word can be used as an adjective to describe an object, for example a rectangular table or room. It contrasts with mourabba3, the square, and da2ira, the circle.
Example
رسم واحد المستطيل فالكراسة
rsem wa7d l-mostatil f l-korrasa
“Draw a rectangle in the notebook.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mostatil” but also “mosta6il” and “mustatil”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 6 is emphatic ta (ط).