mekteb مكتب
Tunisian Derja · noun
“mekteb” (مكتب) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning office, agency (place, service).
Meanings
- office, agency (place, service)
- firm (consultancy, law)
Usage
Mekteb means an office in the sense of a workplace, a service or an agency. It appears mostly in more or less official names: "mekteb ettachghil", the employment office, or "mekteb dirasat", a consultancy (design/study office). For the piece of furniture, or for the everyday office, Tunisians prefer biro, borrowed from French: "ena fil biro", I'm at the office. Mekteb therefore keeps a more formal or administrative flavor. The plural is mkateb.
Example
مشيت لمكتب التشغيل الصباح.
mchit l mekteb ettachghil esseba7.
“I went to the employment office this morning.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mekteb” but also “maktab”, “mektab” and “mektib”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “mekteb” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “office (workplace)”; “desk (furniture)”: mekteb in Moroccan.