machmoum مشموم

Tunisian Derja · noun

“machmoum” (مشموم) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning small jasmine bouquet.

Meanings

1. small jasmine bouquet
2. scented flower

Usage

The machmoum is the small bouquet of jasmine or fell, with tight buds on thin stems, very typical of Tunisia in summer. It is worn behind the ear, especially by men, or given as a gift; vendors offer it in the evening in the streets and cafés. One sometimes specifies "machmoum yasmin" or "machmoum fell". In poetry and song, comparing a cheek or a person to a machmoum is a compliment on their freshness and fragrance. The word comes from the verb chamm (to smell, to sniff).

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “machmoum” but also “mechmoum”, “mashmoum”, “machmom” and “mchmoum”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Type “machmoum” on the Arabic keyboard

In Algerian Darja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “bouquet of flowers”; “small fragrant posy (jasmine)”: mechmoum in Algerian.