Muslim

How to spell muslim

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce muslim

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does muslim mean?

1. nounA person who follows the religion of Islam.
2. adjectiveRelating to Islam or its followers.

Muslim in a sentence

• noun

  As a devout muslim, she prayed five times each day.

• adjective

  The city has a thriving muslim community with several mosques.

• noun

  The new colleague is a practising muslim and fasts during Ramadan.

• adjective

  She studied the rich history of muslim art and architecture.

Where does muslim come from?

Language of origin: Arabic

This word comes directly from the Arabic muslim, which literally means 'one who submits' or 'one who surrenders himself', specifically to the will of God. It is the active participle of the verb aslama, 'to submit' or 'to surrender', and it springs from the same three-consonant root, s-l-m, that also gives 'Islam' (the act of submission) and 'salaam' (peace). English picked the term up in the seventeenth century, partly through earlier European forms such as 'Mussulman' and 'Moslem', before settling on the closer transliteration we use today. The spelling trap lies in remembering the single 's' followed by 'lim', since the older variant 'Moslem' and the soft pronunciation can tempt writers toward a wrong vowel or doubled letter. Knowing that the same s-l-m core also underpins the familiar greeting 'salaam' can help anchor the modern spelling.

How the word is built

• muslim (Arabic active participle of aslama 'to submit'): 'one who submits to God'