m3assel معسل
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“m3assel” (معسل) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning honeyed, coated with honey.
Meanings
- honeyed, coated with honey
- flavoured shisha tobacco
Usage
From m3assel, "dipped in honey". In cooking, it describes pastries soaked in honey or syrup. This is the case for makroudh, often served m3assel. As a noun, it also refers to the sweetened, flavoured tobacco smoked in a shisha. Figuratively, one can speak of paroles m3asslin for honeyed words, too flattering to be sincere. The feminine is m3assla and the plural m3asslin. Neutral register. Context is enough to distinguish the culinary sense from the tobacco.
Example
جبتلك مقروض معسل من القيروان.
jibtlek makroudh m3assel mel kairouan.
“I brought you honeyed makroudh from Kairouan.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “m3assel” but also “m3asel”, “maassel”, “m3essel” and “mo3assel”. 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.