shalom

Etymology

It is borrowed from Biblical Hebrew שָׁלוֹם (šālōm, “peace”),^{[2][3][4][1][5]} properly completeness, soundness, welfare,^[6][7][5] from the stem of the verb meaning "he was intact, was complete, was in good health".^[6][7] The American Heritage Dictionary traces it to the Semitic root Proto-Semitic *šlm.^[3] The same root gives Arabic سَلَام (salām, “peace”), the source of salaam,^[7][1][5] and the Arabic verbs behind Islam;^[6][7] Klein lists related words for welfare and peace in Aramaic, Ge'ez and Akkadian, and compares the names Solomon, Absalom and Jerusalem.^[7] The fuller greeting shalom aleichem is from the Hebrew for "peace be upon you".^[2][8][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A greeting used by Jews on meeting or parting: 1881, in E. B. Tylor's Anthropology.^[2] Barnhart finds the word in 1881 only in phrases such as shalom aleikhem, and alone from 1941;^[5] Merriam-Webster dates it to 1904.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In English the word has kept its use as a salutation, for both hello and goodbye;^[2][4][5] the Shorter Oxford also records it as a noun, an utterance of "shalom".^[8] The Sabbath greeting Shabbat shalom is another fixed phrase.^[2][8] Hendrickson, quoting Leo Rosten, calls it an Israeli greeting for both meeting and parting.^[9]

Timeline

• 1881 – a Jewish greeting on meeting or parting, at first in phrases such as shalom aleichem.^[2][5] Barnhart finds the word alone from 1941.^[5]

Meanings

Interjection

1. A traditional Jewish greeting or farewell.^[3][4][2]

Noun

1. The greeting itself, said on meeting or parting: They exchanged a quick shalom at the gate.^[8][2]

Related words

• shalom aleichem
• Solomon
• salaam
• Islam
• Absalom
• Jerusalem

Usage notes

Merriam-Webster also records the spelling sholom.^[4][10]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Hendrickson, Robert (2008), The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, 4th ed., New York: Facts on File
10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House