salutation
/ˌsaljʊˈteɪʃ(ə)n
/noun
1A gesture or utterance made as a greeting or acknowledgement of another’s arrival or departure: we greeted them but no one returned our salutations [mass noun]: he raised his glass in salutation...
- He raised one hand in salutation, welcoming one and all in a melancholy voice.
- I find that nothing makes conversation quite so impossible as greetings and salutations.
- Grenada shares a common Caribbean culture base with many other islands in the Lesser Antilles, including music, literature, greetings and salutations, food, and family structure.
Synonyms
greeting, salute, address, hail, welcome, toast, tribute, homage, obeisance
1.1A standard formula of words used in a letter to address the person being written to: we would not expect a love letter to include a formal address and salutation...
- The email addresses are in the salutation to the letter.
- At one time the conventional letter salutation employed when writing to a business person whose name was unknown was ‘Dear Sir.’
- For example, the undulating pattern of bold word and definition signal a dictionary while the juxtapositioning of date, address and salutation denote a letter.
Derivatives
salutational
- They call themselves Robin's Hoods, of course, and their salutational greeting is, "How go ye?"
- A salutational voice obediently called from beside her, as if it, too, knew Mary Beth's place. "Good morning."
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French, or from Latin salutatio(n-), from salutare 'pay one's respects to' (see salute).