timzgida

Tashelhit

آڭُنس ن تمزڭيدا

Alternative forms

• tamzgida, timzgid, timzgit

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Berber. Doublet of lmsid. Kossmann (2011) considers it an early borrowing of Arabic مسجد (masjid, “mosque”), but does not explain the feminine gender or the /g/.

Al-Jallad (2017) instead suggests it better matches Aramaic 𐡌𐡎𐡂𐡃𐡀 (msgdʾ /⁠masgəḏā⁠/, “the mosque”), which could have been borrowed directly through closer contact between Romance speakers and Aramaic-speaking Christians, or via the Aramaic form preserved in colloquial Arabic in its foreign shape.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /timzɡida/

Noun

timzgida f (plural timzgadiw, Tifinagh spelling ⵜⵉⵎⵣⴳⵉⴷⴰ, Arabic spelling تيمزڭيدا)

1. mosque

   ايلازم تيمزڭيدا س توسّمڭا كرا ن المُدّة.

   ilazm timzgida s tussmga kra n lmudda.

   He retreats to the mosque for a period of time to devote himself to prayer.

2. Qur'anic school

   تسّاكم تن تيمزڭيدا اد لمدن الدّين د واد سّنّ السّوارات.

   tsakm tn timzgida ad lmdn ddin d wad ssnn sswaṛat.

   You will send your children to school so that they learn religion there and so that they know/memorize the Quranic surahs.

Inflection

Inflection of timzgida

	singular	plural
free state	timzgida	timzgadiwin, timzgadiw
annexed state	tmzgida	tmzgadiwin, tmzgadiw

Derived terms

• timzgida n irumiyn (“church”)
• timzgida n wudayn (“synagogue”)

See also

• aẓum (“to fast”)
• ddin (“religion”)
• lislam (“Islam”)
• maṭr (“to be blessed”)
• tamtra (“prayer”)
• taẓallit (“salat”)
• tussmga (“worship”)
• uẓum (“fasting”)
• ẓẓal (“to pray”)

References

• Stroomer, Harry (2025), Dictionnaire berbère tachelḥiyt-français — Tome 4 T–Ẓ (Handbook of Oriental Studies – Handbuch der Orientalistik; 188/4) (in French), Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, →DOI, →ISBN, page 2698b