bézef

• bésef
• bezef (nonstandard)

Borrowed from dialectal Arabic بِزَّاف‎ (bizzēf), بِالزَافِ‎ (bi-z-zāfi, “a lot”) from a بِالسَّيْفِ‎ (bi-s-sayfi, literally “with the sword”); compare Italian bizzeffe.

• IPA^(key): /be.zɛf/
• Rhymes: -ɛf

bézef

1. (familiar, slang) (pas bézef) (not) much, a lot

   Synonym: beaucoup

• Especially used in negative clauses.

• Lutz, Edzard (2011), “Language Contact between Arabic and Modern European Languages”, in Weninger, Stefan, editor, The Semitic Languages. An International Handbook (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft – Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science; 36), Berlin: De Gruyter, →ISBN, page 1029.