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daya

seasonal pond

noun DAH-yah Rare

Origin: Arabic

Also means

temporary marsh

Usage Note

daya is a borrowing from Maghrebi Arabic for a shallow depression where rainwater collects seasonally, forming a temporary pond in arid North Africa. It appears mainly in geographical and environmental writing about Morocco and Algeria. It is a low-frequency specialized term outside that context.

Examples

"La daya s'assèche en été."

Natural Translation

The seasonal pond dries up in summer.

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