- The word, sim’wa, originated on the extraordinary 1990s science fiction series, Babylon 5. (See the graphic at the bottom of the page.) The expression is regarded as canonical (that is to say, officially approved), since it can be heard in a televised screenplay (the episode, And Now for a Word) written by the show's creator, J. Michael Straczynski (JMS).
Literally, sim’wa is rendered from Adronato, the language of the Minbari religious caste (including the characters, Delenn and Lennier), as in peace." Functionally, however, it is spoken as a salutation (a greeting) after the fashion most other items in this list.
- Peace to you is used in some branches of Christianity and in other contexts.
The peace fingers sign (like the sign for victory) was especially common within the peace movement of the 1960s. It was employed as both a salutation and a valediction (a goodbye).
Peace out, often accompanied by punching one's chest with one's fist, is a later variant more frequently used as a valediction than as a salutation.
- Various cognates (related words) of the Semitic root, Sin-Lam-Mim (S-L-M) are also used as salutations:
- Salām is Arabic for peace. The full form is as-salāmu ‘ālaykum (peace be upon you). In Īrān,
salām, by itself, is more commonly heard than as-salāmu ‘ālaykum.
- Šālôm (shalom) is Hebrew for peace. The full form is šalum ‘alaykhum (peace be upon you), but shalum is more conventional.
- Sliām is Maltese for peace. The full form is sliām ghalikhum (peace be upon you).
- Šlāma is Aramaic (Assyrian/Syriac) for peace. The full form is šlāma ‘laik (peace be upon you).
- Pax is Latin for peace. The long form is pax vobiscum (peace be upon you).
- Finally, auṃ śāntiḥ is a greeting in Sanskrit. While auṃ
(oṃ) is regarded as the primordial sound of the universe, śāntiḥ is peace.
For additional peace greetings, see this page.