rssam رسّام
Moroccan Darija · noun
“rssam” (رسّام) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning painter (artist), draftsman.
Meanings
- painter (artist), draftsman
Usage
Rssam means an artist who paints or a draftsman, someone who makes paintings or drawings. The feminine is rssama and the plural is rssamin. Pitfall for an English speaker: a house painter is not called rssam. You say sebbagh, or the loanword pintri. The word is also used for someone who is good at drawing: howa rssam mzyan, "he draws very well". It is found in school, artistic and media contexts, in a neutral register.
Example
خويا رسّام، كيبيع اللوحات ديالو
khouya rssam, kaybi3 lloo7at dyalo
“My brother is a painter; he sells his paintings.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “rssam” but also “rassam”, “rasam” and “ressam”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.