ghabra غبرة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“ghabra” (غبرة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning dust.
Meanings
- dust
- powder
Usage
Ghabra (or ghobra) means dust, both at home and outdoors: "eddar kolha ghabra" (the house is full of dust). By extension, the word can refer to a fine powder. It is also used for a dull grey color, "dust color". One says "na77i el ghabra" for "remove the dust". On days of sandstorm, people also speak of ghabra in the air. The word is neutral and used in all registers.
Example
الدار كلّها غبرة
eddar kolha ghabra
“The whole house is full of dust.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ghabra” but also “ghobra”, “8abra”, “8obra” and “ghbra”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 8 is light ha (ه) or ghayn (غ), depending on the writer.
Type “ghabra” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “dust”; “long absence”: ghbra in Moroccan.