msta3mel مستعمل
Moroccan Darija · adjective
“msta3mel” (مستعمل) is an adjective in Moroccan Darija meaning second-hand, already used.
Meanings
- second-hand, already used
- user (technical register)
Usage
In darija, msta3mel mainly means "second-hand" or "already used". It is used a lot for cars, phones or furniture, often in contrast to jdid, "new". The feminine is msta3mla and the plural is msta3mlin. The sense of "user", as in standard Arabic, is limited to computing and official texts. For a second-hand item, the French word "occasion" is also heard, for example tomobil occasion. Note: msta3mel does not mean "worn out". For a damaged item, mqatta3 or mkhssr is used instead.
Example
الماتريل واش تاخد جديد أولا مستعمل
lmateriels wach takhdo jdid awla msta3mal
“As for the equipment, do you get it new or second-hand?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “msta3mel” but also “msta3mal”, “mosta3mal”, “mosta3mil” and “most3mil”. 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 “msta3mel” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “second-hand, used”; “worn, already used”: mosta3mel in Tunisian.