Basic Details
Word: Solomon
Part of Speech: Proper noun
Meaning: The name of a king of ancient Israel, the son of David, remembered in the Bible and the Quran for his great wisdom. People also use the name for anyone who is very wise and fair.
How to Spell Solomon
Syllables: sol - o - mon
Tricky part: All three vowels are o, so students write Solamon or Solomen at the end. Because it is a name, it also takes a capital S in a sentence.
Watch out for: Solomen, Solamon, Sollomon
Memory tip: Say it slowly as three beats - Sol, o, mon - and notice that each beat holds the same round letter o.
Idioms and Phrases
- a judgement of Solomon: a wise decision in a case where it is hard to be fair to both sides Example: "Dividing the last mango so that one brother cut and the other chose was a real judgement of Solomon."
Usage Examples
Example 1: Our history teacher told us how King Solomon is said to have built the first temple in Jerusalem.
Example 2: When the two teams argued over the trophy, everyone waited for the umpire to play Solomon.
Example 3: In the story, Solomon asked for wisdom rather than gold or a long life.
Fun Fact
The same name appears in Arabic and Urdu as Sulaiman, which is why the Sulaiman Mountains of Pakistan share their name with this king.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Read the four words. Choose the meaning of the only correctly spelt word:
1. sagacous 2. prophit 3. dynasti 4. Solomon
a) a line of rulers who all come from one family
b) wise and showing good judgement
c) a king of ancient Israel famous for his wisdom
d) a person believed to carry messages from God
Show answer
c) a king of ancient Israel famous for his wisdom. Sagacious needs an i before ous, dynasty ends in y and prophet has an e; the name is the only word written right.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
Sollomon
a) m
b) l
c) o
d) n
Show answer
b) l. The name has a single l between its first two o's.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
After hearing both sides calmly, the village elder gave a ruling worthy of mosolno.
a) Solomon
b) salmon
c) Simon
d) solemn
Show answer
a) Solomon. Only Solomon uses all seven letters, with three o's; salmon and solemn are short of letters and Simon has an i.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Solomon is best remembered for being ____.
a) very wise
b) very cruel
c) very poor
d) very tall
Show answer
a) very wise
2. If a teacher settles a quarrel like Solomon, the decision is ____.
a) quick and careless
b) fair and clever
c) late and unclear
d) loud and angry
Show answer
b) fair and clever
