msa7 مسح
Tunisian Derja · verb
“msa7” (مسح) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning wipe, clean by rubbing.
Meanings
- wipe, clean by rubbing
- erase, delete
- mop the floor
Usage
The verb msa7, imperfect yemsa7, means to wipe a surface, a table or a face. It is also used for mopping the floor (msa7 el9a3a, "clean the floor"). By extension, it means to erase a board, a message or a file on the phone. It is an everyday, neutral word. The corresponding noun is mse7, and the household cloth is often called mes7a. In colloquial speech, it is also used figuratively for "making something disappear" or "wiping it out".
Example
إمسح الطاولة قبل ما نحطّو الماكلة.
emsa7 ettawla 9bal ma n7ottou elmekla.
“Wipe the table before we put the food out.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “msa7” but also “mse7”, “mas7”, “msah” and “masa7”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “msa7” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to wipe”; “to erase, delete”: msa7 in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to wipe, clean by rubbing”; “to erase, delete”: msah in Algerian.