zebda زبدة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“zebda” (زبدة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning butter.
Meanings
- butter
- gist, essence (of a story)
Usage
Zebda means butter, eaten at breakfast with bread ("khobz w zebda") or used in cooking. The word is feminine: "zebda behya" (good butter). Traditional rancid butter is more usually called smen. Figuratively, "zebdet el 7keya" means the essence of a story, its central idea, like "the substance" in French. It is used to cut things short: "zebdet el kalem" (in short). The word is common and colloquial in both senses.
Example
حطلي شوية زبدة على الخبزة
7otli chwaya zebda 3la el khobza
“Put a little butter on the bread for me.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “zebda” but also “zibda”, “zabda” and “zebdaa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “zebda” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “butter”; “spread (preparation)”: zebda in Moroccan.