dhaw الضو
Tunisian Derja · noun
“dhaw” (الضو) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning electricity, power.
Meanings
- electricity, power
- light
- lit lamp
Usage
Eddhaw, with the article, is the everyday word for both electricity and light. You say cha33el eddhaw (turn on the light), ttafi eddhaw (turn it off), eddhaw ma9sous (there is a power cut), rja3 eddhaw (the power is back). An electricity bill is colloquially called fatourt eddhaw. The word also means light in general, whether daylight or from a lamp. The pitfall for an English speaker is that everyday speech has no separate word for "electricity": eddhaw covers both. The register is colloquial and neutral.
Example
الضو مقصوص من الصباح
eddhaw ma9sous mel sbe7
“The power has been out since morning.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “dhaw” but also “eddhaw”, “ddhaw”, “dhow” and “edhaw”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “dhaw” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “light”; “electricity, power”: ddo in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “light”; “electricity, power”: eddou in Algerian.