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Selma

Pronunciation: /ˈsɛlmə/

The English word “Selma” has 6 meanings listed here.

proper noun

  1. A community in Nova Scotia, Canada.
  2. An unincorporated community in Arkansas.
  3. An unincorporated community in Iowa.
  4. An unincorporated community in Kansas.
  5. An unincorporated community in Ohio.

noun

  1. A confrontation where authorities brutally repress those wanting civil rights, similar to Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama.

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).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.