Selam

American  

[se-lahm] / sɛˈlɑm /

noun

1. the fossil remains of a three-year-old hominin, discovered in Ethiopia in 2000 and classified as Australopithecus afarensis : judged to be 100,000 years older than Lucy, whose remains had been found just a few miles north in 1974.

---

Etymology

Origin of Selam

First recorded in 2005–10; from an Ethiopian language, e.g., Geez: literally, “peace”

Example Sentences

"No-one understands when we are menstruating and our behaviour changes," Selam explains.

From BBC • Mar. 5, 2026

The team derived the age of Selam, a "moonlet" circling the small asteroid Dinkinesh in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, based only on dynamics, or how the pair moves in space.

From Science Daily • May 2, 2024

Selam Gebrekidan is an investigative reporter for The New York Times based in London.

From New York Times • Nov. 10, 2023

In images shared this week with the AP from Tigray’s flagship hospital in the capital, Mekele, a health worker pinched the thin stomach of a small child, 2-year-old Selam Mulu.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 6, 2022

With cries of "Aleikoúm Selam," they both jumped off their horses, and were immediately locked in each other's embrace.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 53, No. 331, May, 1843 by Various