mzia مزيّة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“mzia” (مزيّة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning favor, kindness, good turn.
Meanings
- favor, kindness, good turn
- advantage, merit
Usage
Lmzyya refers to a generous gesture made for someone that creates a kind of moral debt. People say dar m3aya lmzyya (he did me a favor, he did me good) and 3omri ma nensa lik had lmzyya (I will never forget what you did for me). The word carries a nuance of gratitude: reminding someone of the mzyya one did for them can come across as a reproach. The more abstract sense of "advantage" of a thing exists, but it is less frequent in conversation. The plural is mzaya. Register: common, informal or neutral.
Example
عمرني ما ننسى ليك هاد المزيّة
3omri ma nensa lik had lmzyya
“I will never forget this favor you did me.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mzia” but also “mzya”, “mzyya” and “mziya”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “mzia” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “favor, service rendered”; “kindness one owes in return”: mzia in Tunisian.