zitoun زيتون
Moroccan Darija · noun
“zitoun” (زيتون) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning olives.
Meanings
- olives
- olive trees
Usage
Zitun is a collective noun meaning olives in general, or olive trees as a plantation. The singular is zituna, meaning one olive or one olive tree. A distinction is made between "zitun khder" (green olives), "zitun k7el" (black olives) and "zitun mchermel" (marinated olives). The olive harvest, often in autumn, is an important time in the countryside. It leads to pressing to obtain z-zit. With the article, it is pronounced z-zitun. The collective generally takes the masculine singular: "z-zitun qlil" (there are few olives).
Example
زيتون قليل هاد العام
ziton 9lil had l3am
“There are few olives this year.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “zitoun” but also “zitun”, “ziton”, “zitoune” and “zaytoun”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “zitoun” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “olives (the fruit)”; “olive tree, olive trees”: zitoun in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “olives (fruit, collective)”; “olive trees, olive grove”: zitoun in Tunisian.