namous ناموس
Moroccan Darija · noun
“namous” (ناموس) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning mosquitoes (collective).
Meanings
- mosquitoes (collective)
Usage
Namous is a collective noun. It refers to mosquitoes in general, without counting them. For a single mosquito, the unit form namousa is used. The word takes singular agreement even though its meaning is plural: "namous ktir" or "kayn bzaf d nnamous". It is heard mostly in summer and in damp areas. The mosquito net and, by extension, the bed are called namousiya, a word from the same family. Note: in standard Arabic, namous also means "law" or "honor", but in everyday darija it refers above all to mosquitoes.
Example
كاين بزاف ديال الناموس هاد الليلة
kayn bzaf dyal nnamous had lila
“There are a lot of mosquitoes tonight.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “namous” but also “nnamous”, “namouss” and “namus”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “namous” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “mosquitoes (collective)”; “gnats, small flying insects”: namous in Tunisian.