Selma
name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A confrontation where authorities brutally repress those wanting civil rights, similar to Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama. US, figuratively
"Eventually, our place and response may be viewed as a historic turning point, another Selma for the nation and world."
- 1 A female given name. countable
- 2 A surname. countable
- 3 A placename; A community in Nova Scotia, Canada. countable, uncountable
- 4 A placename; A village in Graubünden canton, Switzerland. countable, uncountable
- 5 A placename; A place in the United States.; A city, the county seat of Dallas County, Alabama; named for James Macpherson's Ossianic poem The Songs of Selma. countable, uncountable
"So when King – who had been in Atlanta for “Bloody Sunday” – telegrammed Parks about returning to Alabama to take part in a third mass march from Selma to Montgomery, her immediate answer was “Why, of course.”"
Show 11 more definitions
- 6 A placename; A place in the United States.; A city in Fresno County, California; named for early resident Selma Michelson. countable, uncountable
- 7 A placename; A place in the United States.; A city in Texas. countable, uncountable
- 8 A placename; A place in the United States.; A town in North Carolina; named for the city in Alabama. countable, uncountable
- 9 A placename; A place in the United States.; A town in Indiana. countable, uncountable
- 10 A placename; A place in the United States.; A census-designated place in Josephine County, Oregon. countable, uncountable
- 11 A placename; A place in the United States.; A census-designated place in Virginia. countable, uncountable
- 12 A placename; A place in the United States.; An unincorporated community in Arkansas. countable, uncountable
- 13 A placename; A place in the United States.; An unincorporated community in Iowa. countable, uncountable
- 14 A placename; A place in the United States.; An unincorporated community in Kansas. countable, uncountable
- 15 A placename; A place in the United States.; An unincorporated community in Missouri; named for the place in the Ossian cycle. countable, uncountable
- 16 A placename; A place in the United States.; An unincorporated community in Ohio. countable, uncountable
Example
More examples"She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes, we can."
Etymology
Taken to use in the 19th century when similar-sounding names, Elma, Thelma, Alma, Wilma, etc. were in vogue. Perhaps a shortening of Anselma, or from the name of a place in the James Macpherson's Ossian cycle of epic poems, itself from Scottish Gaelic sealladh + math (“good vision”). In some cases perhaps borrowed from Turkish Selma, from Arabic سَلْمَى (salmā).