salaam meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

salaam

intj

/səˈlɑːm/

Etymology From Arabic سَلَام (salām, “peace”). Doublet of shalom, a borrowing from Hebrew.

A respectful ceremonial greeting used mostly by Muslims.

noun

Etymology From Arabic سَلَام (salām, “peace”). Doublet of shalom, a borrowing from Hebrew.

A low bow as a ceremonial act of deference.

[…] the finest dressed one entered first; put her two hands to her forehead, then to her breasts, and with her two hands touched the Colonel’s foot; this is called a grand salam […]1790, John MacDonald, Travels, in Various Parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, London: for the author, page 168:
1840, John Wilson, “On the Genius and Character of Burns” in John Wilson and Robert Chambers, The Land of Burns, Glasgow: Blackie & Son, Volume 2, p. lxxv, Finally, Josiah might have made his salaam to the Exciseman just as he was folding up that letter […]

4 more examples

1895, Rabindranath Tagore, letter dated 14 August, 1895 in Glimpses of Bengal, London: Macmillan, 1921, pp. 160-161, My servant was late one morning, and I was greatly annoyed at his delay. He came up and stood before me with his usual salaam, and with a slight catch in his voice explained that his eight-year-old daughter had died last night.
A turbaned Arab placed cigarettes and cups of coffee spiced with saffron before the customers, gave salaam and withdrew.1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados:
The old gentleman made several deep salaams.1921, Ruth Plumly Thompson, chapter 3, in The Royal Book of Oz, Chicago: Reilly & Lee:
Mr. Tsoutsou and his wife appeared for just a moment to see how I was faring, commented bravely on the delicious, appetizing appearance of the skinned fish and disappeared with bows and salaams which sent an electric thrill through the assembled patrons of Herakleion’s most distinguished restaurant.1942, Henry Miller, The Colossus of Maroussi, London: Secker & Warburg, Part Two, p. 112:

verb

Etymology From Arabic سَلَام (salām, “peace”). Doublet of shalom, a borrowing from Hebrew.

To perform a salaam to (someone).

[H]e went away salaaming, and protesting his friendship and his master’s goodwill.1896, Joseph Conrad, chapter I, in An Outcast of the Islands, London: T. Fisher Unwin […], →OCLC, part III, page 176:
He salaamed low to Flory, covering his face with his hand […]1934 October, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter VI, in Burmese Days, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, →OCLC:

4 more examples

Outside the town, three ragged children salaamed the Governor from the back of a camel.1937, Robert Byron, The Road to Oxiana, London: Macmillan, page 165:
Beside himself, his possibilities; / salaaming hours of a half-blind morning / while the rainy lepers salaamed back,1964, John Berryman, chapter 24, in 77 Dream Songs, New York: Farrar, Straus and Company, page 26:
The tea-planters’ houses of Ceylon […] were often surrounded by admirable lawns of coarse mountain grass, upon which the planters’ ladies enviably sat, buzzed about by harmless insects and salaamed by passing serfs.1968, Jan Morris, chapter 17, in Pax Britannica, Faber & Faber, published 2010, page 379:
Nantwich made a kind of diving or salaaming motion with his hands, and the man nodded and smiled.1988, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 2, in The Swimming-Pool Library, paperback edition, London: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 41:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.