salaam
/səˈlɑːm/
salaam interjection: a respectful ceremonial greeting used mostly by Muslims.
Interjection
Noun
salaam (countable and uncountable, plural salaams)
- 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
- Finally, Josiah might have made his salaam to the Exciseman just as he was folding up that letter […]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
Verb
salaam (third-person singular simple present salaams, present participle salaaming, simple past and past participle salaamed)
- 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
Proper noun capitalized: Salaam
Salaam (plural Salaams)
- A surname.
salaam meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
salaam in Hindi
- a Muslim greeting
- सलाम salām
salaam in Tamil
- வணங்கு, வணக்கம்
salaam in Marathi
- a Muslim greeting
- सलाम salām
salaam in Urdu
- a Muslim greeting
- سَلام salām
More languagesFewer languages
- salaam in Bengali
- সালাম salam
- salaam in Telugu
- సలాము salāmu
- salaam in Malayalam
- സലാം salāṁ
- salaam in Kannada
- ಸಲಾಮ್, ಸಲಾಮ್ಗೆ, ಸಲಾಂ
- salaam in Punjabi
- ਸਲਾਮ salām
- salaam in Odia
- ସଲାମ୍
- salaam in Pashto
- سلام salām
- salaam in Arabic
- سَلَام salām
- salaam in Malay
- salam
- salaam in Indonesian
- salam
- salaam in Persian
- سَلام salâm
- salaam in Vietnamese
- xa-lam
Examples of salaam in a sentence
- 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:
- 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:
Forms of salaam
| Interjection | |
|---|---|
| alternative form | salam |
| Noun | |
| plural | salaams |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | salaams |
| present participle | salaaming |
| past participle | salaamed |
| past | salaamed |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Salaams |
Origin of salaam
From Arabic سَلَام (salām, “peace”). Doublet of shalom, a borrowing from Hebrew.
Phrases with salaam
Words that rhyme with salaam
Questions about salaam
- What does salaam mean?
- Salaam means a respectful ceremonial greeting used mostly by Muslims.
- What is salaam in Hindi?
- Salaam in Hindi is सलाम (salām). See Salaam meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use salaam in a sentence?
- A turbaned Arab placed cigarettes and cups of coffee spiced with saffron before the customers, gave salaam and withdrew.
- What part of speech is salaam?
- Salaam can be an interjection, a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce salaam?
- Salaam is pronounced /səˈlɑːm/.
Words near salaam in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: salaam (page history and authors); Salaam (page history and authors); salaam (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); സലാം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); salaam (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); salaam (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-salaam.wav.
Cite this entry: “salaam.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/salaam. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.