mendil منديل

Tunisian Derja · noun

“mendil” (منديل) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning handkerchief, tissue.

Meanings

1. handkerchief, tissue
2. headscarf

Usage

Mendil primarily means a handkerchief, whether cloth or paper. For the disposable tissue, kleenex is also often heard. In more traditional usage, the word refers to the scarf women tie over their head. The plural is mnedel. Common expression: mendil warka, "paper tissue". For an English speaker, the second sense may be surprising: depending on context, notably when talking about traditional dress or grandmothers, mendil suggests a headscarf rather than a handkerchief.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mendil” but also “mandil”, “mondil” and “mendile”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Type “mendil” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “handkerchief, small scarf”; “striped cloth of Jbala women”: mendil in Moroccan.

How to say “handkerchief” in Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian