3attar عطار
Tunisian Derja · noun
“3attar” (عطار) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning corner grocer.
Meanings
- corner grocer
- spice or perfume seller
Usage
In Tunisia, the 3attar is first of all the corner grocer, the small shop where you buy bread, milk, canned goods and basic products, often on credit. People say "nemchi lel 3attar" (I'm going to the grocer's). The older sense of a seller of spices, incense and perfumes is found in the souks, such as the perfumers' souk in the Tunis medina. The plural is 3attara. The word is also used as a family name.
Example
إمشي جيب الحليب من عند العطار.
emchi jib el 7lib men 3and el 3attar.
“Go get the milk from the grocer's.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3attar” but also “attar”, “3atar”, “aattar” and “3ttar”. 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 “3attar” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “spice and herb seller”; “traditional apothecary”: 3ttar in Moroccan.