nisba نسبة

Moroccan Darija · noun

“nisba” (نسبة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning percentage, rate.

Meanings

1. percentage, rate
2. proportion

Usage

Nisba is a standard Arabic loanword well integrated into darija. It means a percentage or rate: nisba dyal nnaja7 (success rate), nisba dyal lfa2ida (interest rate). Its most frequent construction is bnnisba l, "as for, regarding": bnnisba lia, "for me, in my opinion". This expression is very common in speech, across all social backgrounds. It is generally pronounced nisba, sometimes nesba. Do not confuse it with nsab, "in-laws", or with nessab, "the swindler".

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “nisba” but also “nesba”, “nissba”, “nsba” and “nsaba”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Type “nisba” on the Arabic keyboard

In Tunisian Derja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “rate, percentage”; “proportion, share”: nesba in Tunisian.