wa7id وحيد
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“wa7id” (وحيد) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning only, sole (the one of its kind).
Meanings
- only, sole (the one of its kind)
- alone, isolated
Usage
Wa7id is used mainly with the article to mean "the only": el wled el wa7id (the only son), el 7al el wa7id (the only solution). To say "alone, with nobody", Tunisian usually prefers wa7dou, wa7di, wa7dha ("he alone, I alone, she alone"): 9a3ed wa7dou, "he stayed alone". Wa7id in this sense exists but sounds more literary or poetic. The feminine is wa7ida. It also appears in the animal name wa7id el 9arn, "rhinoceros". It is also a common male given name, so do not confuse it with the proper name when it appears on its own.
Example
هو الولد الوحيد في العايلة
howa el wled el wa7id fil 3ayla
“He is the only boy in the family.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “wa7id” but also “waheed”, “wahid”, “we7id” and “wa7ed”. 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 “wa7id” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “alone, lonely”; “only, sole”: wa7id in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “only, the sole one”; “only child”: wa7id in Algerian.