wa3ed وعد

Tunisian Derja · verb

“wa3ed” (وعد) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to promise.

Meanings

1. to promise
2. promise (noun wa3d)
3. destiny, fate, luck

Usage

As a verb, wa3ed means "to promise". It is built with a suffixed pronoun and bech: wa3edni bech yji, "he promised me he would come". In the imperfect, one says nwa3dek, "I promise you". The noun wa3d means "promise": wfa b wa3dou, "he kept his promise". In Tunisia, wa3d also refers to destiny or the share of luck granted to someone, particularly regarding marriage: kol wa7ed w wa3dou, "to each his own destiny". Context makes it possible to tell the promise from the destiny.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “wa3ed” but also “wa3d”, “w3ad”, “wa3add” and “waad”. 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 “wa3ed” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to promise”; “promise (noun: lwa3d)”: w3ed in Moroccan.