wajba وجبة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“wajba” (وجبة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning meal.
Meanings
- meal
- dish, serving
Usage
Wajba refers to a meal, in particular as a moment of the day (breakfast, lunch, dinner) or as a portion served at a restaurant. The word comes from Standard Arabic and belongs to a somewhat formal register: it is heard in health advice, advertising, menus and the media. In everyday conversation, people more readily say lmakla for food or a meal. It is feminine: wajba khfifa (a snack, a light meal), wajba zwina. The plural wajabat is mostly written or formal. Remember that wajba refers to a specific meal, not to food in general.
Example
الفطور هوا أهم وجبة في نهار
lftour howa aham wejba fnhar
“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “wajba” but also “wjba” and “wejba”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “wajba” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “meal”; “portion, served dish”: wajba in Tunisian.