Wiktionary

Selma

See also: selma, šelma, and šeļma

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

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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).

Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Selma (countable and uncountable, plural Selmas)

  1. (countable) A female given name.
  2. (countable) A surname.
  3. A placename
    1. A community in Nova Scotia, Canada.
    2. A village in Graubünden canton, Switzerland.
    3. A place in the United States.
      1. A city, the county seat of Dallas County, Alabama; named for James Macpherson's Ossianic poem The Songs of Selma.
        • 2015 March 5, Douglas Brinkley, “Selma’s historic bridge deserves a better name”, in CNN‎[1]:
          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.”
      2. A city in Fresno County, California; named for early resident Selma Michelson.
      3. A city in Texas.
      4. A town in North Carolina; named for the city in Alabama.
      5. A town in Indiana.
      6. A census-designated place in Josephine County, Oregon.
      7. A census-designated place in Virginia.
      8. An unincorporated community in Arkansas.
      9. An unincorporated community in Iowa.
      10. An unincorporated community in Kansas.
      11. An unincorporated community in Missouri; named for the place in the Ossian cycle.
      12. An unincorporated community in Ohio.

Translations

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Noun

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Selma (plural Selmas)

  1. (US, politics, figuratively) A confrontation where authorities brutally repress those wanting civil rights, similar to Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama.
    • 2020, Dane Smith, Star Tribune (Minneapolis), "Toward a better patriotism", 3 July 2020
      Eventually, our place and response may be viewed as a historic turning point, another Selma for the nation and world.
    • 2015, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Workers World, "Black and Brown unity in Alabama", 24 June 2015
      Shelby County has become the new Selma.
    • 1986, Daily Sitka Sentinel, Sitka Weekend, p.11, Friday 17 January 1986
      "I don't know how many Selmas you have in your memory," she said. "I have a lot in mine."
    • 1965, The Fresno Bee, p.60, Wednesday 21 July 1965:
      How Many Selmas? Still another city in the south Is learning the hard way ​that the Negro will settle for nothing less than first class citizenship.

Coordinate terms

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Anagrams

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Cebuano

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Etymology

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Possibly from Arabic سَلْمَى (salmā).

Proper noun

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Selma

  1. a surname

Danish

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Proper noun

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Selma

  1. a female given name, equivalent to English Selma

Estonian

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Proper noun

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Selma

  1. a female given name, equivalent to English Selma

Faroese

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Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Selma f

  1. a female given name

Usage notes

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Matronymics

  • son of Selma: Selmuson
  • daughter of Selma: Selmudóttir

Declension

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singular
indefinite
nominative Selma
accusative Selmu
dative Selmu
genitive Selmu

Finnish

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Etymology

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From English Selma.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈselmɑ/, [ˈs̠e̞lmɑ̝]
  • Rhymes: -elmɑ
  • Syllabification(key): Sel‧ma
  • Hyphenation(key): Sel‧ma

Proper noun

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Selma

  1. a female given name, equivalent to English Selma

Declension

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Inflection of Selma (Kotus type 9/kala, no gradation)
nominative Selma Selmat
genitive Selman Selmojen
partitive Selmaa Selmoja
illative Selmaan Selmoihin
singular plural
nominative Selma Selmat
accusative nom. Selma Selmat
gen. Selman
genitive Selman Selmojen
Selmain rare
partitive Selmaa Selmoja
inessive Selmassa Selmoissa
elative Selmasta Selmoista
illative Selmaan Selmoihin
adessive Selmalla Selmoilla
ablative Selmalta Selmoilta
allative Selmalle Selmoille
essive Selmana Selmoina
translative Selmaksi Selmoiksi
abessive Selmatta Selmoitta
instructive — Selmoin
comitative See the possessive forms below.
Possessive forms of Selma (Kotus type 9/kala, no gradation)
first-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative Selmani Selmani
accusative nom. Selmani Selmani
gen. Selmani
genitive Selmani Selmojeni
Selmaini rare
partitive Selmaani Selmojani
inessive Selmassani Selmoissani
elative Selmastani Selmoistani
illative Selmaani Selmoihini
adessive Selmallani Selmoillani
ablative Selmaltani Selmoiltani
allative Selmalleni Selmoilleni
essive Selmanani Selmoinani
translative Selmakseni Selmoikseni
abessive Selmattani Selmoittani
instructive — —
comitative — Selmoineni
second-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative Selmasi Selmasi
accusative nom. Selmasi Selmasi
gen. Selmasi
genitive Selmasi Selmojesi
Selmaisi rare
partitive Selmaasi Selmojasi
inessive Selmassasi Selmoissasi
elative Selmastasi Selmoistasi
illative Selmaasi Selmoihisi
adessive Selmallasi Selmoillasi
ablative Selmaltasi Selmoiltasi
allative Selmallesi Selmoillesi
essive Selmanasi Selmoinasi
translative Selmaksesi Selmoiksesi
abessive Selmattasi Selmoittasi
instructive — —
comitative — Selmoinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative Selmamme Selmamme
accusative nom. Selmamme Selmamme
gen. Selmamme
genitive Selmamme Selmojemme
Selmaimme rare
partitive Selmaamme Selmojamme
inessive Selmassamme Selmoissamme
elative Selmastamme Selmoistamme
illative Selmaamme Selmoihimme
adessive Selmallamme Selmoillamme
ablative Selmaltamme Selmoiltamme
allative Selmallemme Selmoillemme
essive Selmanamme Selmoinamme
translative Selmaksemme Selmoiksemme
abessive Selmattamme Selmoittamme
instructive — —
comitative — Selmoinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative Selmanne Selmanne
accusative nom. Selmanne Selmanne
gen. Selmanne
genitive Selmanne Selmojenne
Selmainne rare
partitive Selmaanne Selmojanne
inessive Selmassanne Selmoissanne
elative Selmastanne Selmoistanne
illative Selmaanne Selmoihinne
adessive Selmallanne Selmoillanne
ablative Selmaltanne Selmoiltanne
allative Selmallenne Selmoillenne
essive Selmananne Selmoinanne
translative Selmaksenne Selmoiksenne
abessive Selmattanne Selmoittanne
instructive — —
comitative — Selmoinenne
third-person possessor
singular plural
nominative Selmansa Selmansa
accusative nom. Selmansa Selmansa
gen. Selmansa
genitive Selmansa Selmojensa
Selmainsa rare
partitive Selmaansa Selmojaan
Selmojansa
inessive Selmassaan
Selmassansa 		Selmoissaan
Selmoissansa
elative Selmastaan
Selmastansa 		Selmoistaan
Selmoistansa
illative Selmaansa Selmoihinsa
adessive Selmallaan
Selmallansa 		Selmoillaan
Selmoillansa
ablative Selmaltaan
Selmaltansa 		Selmoiltaan
Selmoiltansa
allative Selmalleen
Selmallensa 		Selmoilleen
Selmoillensa
essive Selmanaan
Selmanansa 		Selmoinaan
Selmoinansa
translative Selmakseen
Selmaksensa 		Selmoikseen
Selmoiksensa
abessive Selmattaan
Selmattansa 		Selmoittaan
Selmoittansa
instructive — —
comitative — Selmoineen
Selmoinensa

Statistics

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  • Selma is the 248th (tied with 1 other name) most common female given name in Finland, belonging to 2,147 female individuals (and as a middle name to 612 more), according to February 2023 data from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency of Finland.

Anagrams

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Icelandic

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Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Selma f (proper noun, genitive singular Selmu)

  1. a female given name

Declension

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Declension of Selma (sg-only feminine)
indefinite singular
nominative Selma
accusative Selmu
dative Selmu
genitive Selmu

Norwegian

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Proper noun

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Selma

  1. a female given name, equivalent to English Selma

Portuguese

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Pronunciation

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  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈsɛw.mɐ/ [ˈsɛʊ̯.mɐ]
    • (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈsɛw.ma/ [ˈsɛʊ̯.ma]

Proper noun

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Selma f

  1. a female given name, equivalent to English Selma

Serbo-Croatian

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Etymology

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From Ottoman Turkish سلمى (selma) (Turkish Selma), from Arabic سَلْمَى (salmā).

Proper noun

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Selma f (Cyrillic spelling Селма)

  1. a female given name

Declension

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    Declension of Selma
singular plural
nominative Selma Selme
genitive Selme Selma
dative Selmi Selmama
accusative Selmu Selme
vocative Selmo Selme
locative Selmi Selmama
instrumental Selmom Selmama

Further reading

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  • “Selma”, in Portal suvremenih hrvatskih osobnih imena [Portal of contemporary Croatian personal names] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2018–2025

Swedish

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Pronunciation

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  • Audio:(file)

Proper noun

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Selma c (genitive Selmas)

  1. a female given name, equivalent to English Selma

Anagrams

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Tagalog

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English, from various similar-sounding female given names.

Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Selma (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜒᜎ᜔ᜋ)

  1. a female given name from English

Anagrams

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Turkish

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Etymology

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From Arabic سَلْمَى (salmā).

Proper noun

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Selma

  1. a female given name from Arabic
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