Mahkama: the place of judging
The noun of place from root h-k-m. It names both the institution and the building where hearings happen.
Word, root, building
Mahkama is Arabic for a court or tribunal, built on the root h-k-m that gives the verb hakama, to judge, and the noun hukm, a ruling. The same root travels into Ottoman Turkish as mahkeme and stays alive in Morocco today, where it names both the institution and the building that houses it.
This is not a directory of courts, not a legal advice page, and not the site of any company or institution sharing the name.
Scroll the strip sideways — 6 cards.
The noun of place from root h-k-m. It names both the institution and the building where hearings happen.
The borrowed form applied to two parallel court systems: sharia courts and commercial courts.
Still the ordinary word for courthouse. The Mahkama du Pacha in Casablanca is the best-known example.
Public waiting area, clerks' offices, judges' chambers and a records room where case files are archived.
Files in a courthouse archive are indexed by year and case number, because a case can be reopened years after first heard.
The Mahkama du Pacha arranges its interior around a central courtyard finished in zellij, carved plaster and cedar wood.
Root, borrowings, building
Mahkama is Arabic for a court or tribunal, a place where a ruling is handed down.
The word is built on the Arabic root h-k-m. That root gives the verb hakama, to judge, and the noun hukm, a ruling. Mahkama is the noun of place: the site where judging happens.
Because the root is so productive, the same stem yields words far from the courtroom. Hikma, wisdom, shares it; so does the name of the Moroccan judicial clerk, the adl, who records testimony in the same institutional world.
| Item | Value | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Arabic form | mahkama | The base word for court or tribunal |
| Ottoman Turkish form | mahkeme | Borrowed for sharia and commercial courts |
| Moroccan usage | mahkama | Still means courthouse in everyday speech |
| Root | h-k-m | Shared by judge, ruling, court and wisdom |
| Mahkama du Pacha built | 1941–1942 | Two-year construction in Casablanca |
| Functional zones | 4 | Public hall, clerks, judges, records |
| Interior materials | 3 | Zellij tile, carved plaster, cedar wood |
| Archive indexing | Year + case number | Because cases can reopen years later |
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