mosta3mel مستعمل
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“mosta3mel” (مستعمل) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning second-hand, used.
Meanings
- second-hand, used
- worn, already used
Usage
Mosta3mel is used mainly for an object you buy or sell: car, phone, furniture, clothing. It is the opposite of jdid (new). It is the common term in classified ads and between individuals, for example "jdid wala mosta3mel?" (new or second-hand?). It is often qualified: "mosta3mel ama ndhif" (second-hand but clean). Note: the English gloss "user" is misleading. For a person who uses a service, you do not say mosta3mel in everyday derja. The feminine is mosta3mla and the plural mosta3mlin.
Example
التليفون هذا مستعمل أما يخدم مليح
ettelifoun hedha mosta3mel ama yekhdem mli7
“This phone is second-hand, but it works well.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mosta3mel” but also “musta3mel”, “mesta3mel” and “mosta3mal”. 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.
Type “mosta3mel” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “second-hand, already used”; “user (technical register)”: msta3mel in Moroccan.