salaam

Etymology

It is borrowed from Arabic سَلَام (salām, “peace”),^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]} the first word of the full greeting meaning "peace be upon you".^[2][4][6][9] The Arabic word was also taken into Persian and Urdu,^[2][4] and is the cognate of Biblical Hebrew שָׁלוֹם (šālōm, “peace”), the source of shalom.^{[2][3][6][10]} Klein and Etymonline derive it from the base of a verb meaning "he was safe",^[7][4] which also gives Islam and Muslim.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The greeting "peace", and the ceremonious bow that goes with it: 1613, in Purchas his Pilgrimage.^[2][3] Merriam-Webster dates its first known use to 1611, and Etymonline to the 1610s.^[11][4]

Semantic evolution

The word entered English as the name of a salutation and soon also of the deep bow that accompanies it, in India a low bow with the palm of the right hand on the forehead.^[2][12][10] It was formerly used of any ceremonious greeting in India and elsewhere in Asia.^[4][13] From 1786 salaams could mean respectful compliments sent to someone.^[2][13] The verb, formed from the noun, is recorded from 1684 for greeting someone with a salaam,^[2] or from 1693 according to Barnhart and Merriam-Webster;^[3][11] the intransitive use, to make a salaam, follows in 1698, in Fryer.^[2] Merriam-Webster's Word Histories notes that the Arabic greeting is usually answered with a phrase meaning "upon you be peace".^[10]

Timeline

• 1613 – the greeting peace (be upon you), and the obeisance that accompanies it.^[2][3] Merriam-Webster dates it to 1611.^[11]
• 1684 – verb, to greet someone with a salaam.^[2] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster date the verb to 1693.^[3][11]
• 1698 – verb, to make a salaam.^[2]
• 1786 – salaams, respectful compliments.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A greeting meaning "peace", used especially among Muslims.^[9][11][2]
2. A low bow made with the palm of the right hand placed on the forehead, as a ceremonious greeting or sign of respect: The doorman gave a deep salaam.^[9][11][2]
3. salaams: respectful compliments or greetings sent to someone.^[11][2]

Verb

1. To greet someone with a salaam.^[9][11][2]
2. To make a salaam.^[9][11][2]

Word family

• salaamlike

Related words

• salaam alaikum
• shalom
• Islam
• Muslim
• Moslem

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b Yule, Henry; Burnell, A. C. (1903), Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, new ed. by William Crooke, London: John Murray