zri3a زرّيعة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“zri3a” (زرّيعة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning seeds, seed grain.
Meanings
- seeds, seed grain
- roasted seeds for snacking
- offspring, descendants
Usage
Zerri3a first means seeds, both those you sow and those you eat. It is used mainly as a collective noun: zerri3a d lbettikh (melon seeds). In everyday life the word often refers to roasted, salted sunflower or pumpkin seeds, nibbled in the street, at the stadium or in front of the television, and bought from the dried-fruit seller. Figuratively, and more colloquially, the word means someone's offspring or lineage. It can then be pejorative, depending on the tone.
Example
خليني نشري زريعة.
khlini nchri zeri3a.
“Let me buy some seeds.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “zri3a” but also “zerri3a”, “zrri3a”, “zarri3a” and “zeri3a”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “zri3a” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “roasted seeds for snacking”; “seed for sowing”: zerri3a in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “seed, sowing seed”; “seeds for snacking”: zri3a in Tunisian.