Salem
Americannoun
-
a seaport in northeastern Massachusetts: founded 1626; site of witch hunt 1692–93; home of Nathaniel Hawthorne.
-
a city in and the capital of Oregon, in the northwestern part, on the Willamette River.
-
a town in southeastern New Hampshire.
-
a town in southwestern Virginia, near Roanoke.
-
a city in eastern Ohio.
-
a city in central Tamil Nadu, in southern India.
-
an ancient city of Canaan, later identified with Jerusalem. Genesis 14:18; Psalms 76:2.
noun
-
a city in S India, in Tamil Nadu: textile industries. Pop: 693 236 (2001)
-
a city in NE Massachusetts, on the Atlantic: scene of the execution of 19 people after the witch hunts of 1692. Pop: 42 067 (2003 est)
-
a city in the NW USA, the state capital of Oregon: food-processing. Pop: 142 914 (2003 est)
-
an Old Testament name for Jerusalem (Genesis 14:18; Psalms 76:2) See Jerusalem
Etymology
Origin of Salem
From Late Latin Salem, from Greek Salḗm, from Hebrew Shālēm, a name of uncertain origin and meaning, but traditionally interpreted as a synonym of Jerusalem and associated in meaning with shālōm “peace”; Jerusalem ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Though the Salem witch trials were 150 years past, in remote areas like Hydesville, belief in sorcery and evil held fast.
From Literature
By the mid-1800s, Salem, Mass., became a hub of early game development aided by European printing technology that had made its way across the Atlantic.
In Salem: In the original “Thomas Crown Affair,” a stuntman for Steve McQueen takes an acrobatic thrill ride in a glider to the film’s title track, “The Windmills of Your Mind.”
The company can produce some 10,000 robots per year at its manufacturing facility in Salem, Ore.
From Barron's
Our teachers took us to Plymouth Rock, Bunker Hill, Walden Pond, Salem, and most novel for a group of teenage Manhattanites, a real-life mall, the kind we saw only on television.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
