battel بطل
Tunisian Derja · verb
“battel” (بطل) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to stop an activity.
Meanings
- to stop an activity
- to give up (school, work)
- hero, champion (baṭal)
Usage
In the form battel, this verb is widely used to say that you stop an activity or give it up: battel el qraya (stop studying), battel el khedma (stop working), battel el doukhan (stop smoking). It is also used for a motor or device stopping. Battel can also mean "to take a break". The same Arabic spelling can also be read batal, "hero" or "champion" in sport, and by extension the star of a film. Only context distinguishes the verb from the noun, because Arabic script does not mark the doubled consonant.
Example
بطّل القراية وخرج يخدم مع بوه.
battel el qraya w khraj yekhdem m3a bouh.
“He quit school and went off to work with his father.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “battel” but also “batel”, “battal”, “btal” and “batal”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “battel” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “champion (sport)”; “hero”: batal in Moroccan.