ma3sra معصرة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“ma3sra” (معصرة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning olive oil mill.
Meanings
- olive oil mill
- juicer, juice extractor
Usage
In Tunisia, ma3sra first of all means the oil mill where olives are taken during the harvest season: ma3sret ez-zitoun. It is a very common word in the countryside and in the Sahel, where winter life revolves around the ma3sra. It is also used for a household appliance for pressing fruit: ma3sret ech-chrab, ma3sret el 3assir. Context is enough to tell the two meanings apart. The related verb is 3sar, "to press". The plural is ma3aser.
Example
هزّينا الزيتون للمعصرة الصباح.
hazzina ezzitoun lel ma3sra esba7.
“We took the olives to the oil mill this morning.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ma3sra” but also “maasra” and “ma3sara”. 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.