Hypertext Webster Gateway: "salutation"

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)

Salutation
"Eastern modes of salutation are not unfrequently so prolonged
as to become wearisome and a positive waste of time. The
profusely polite Arab asks so many questions after your health,
your happiness, your welfare, your house, and other things, that
a person ignorant of the habits of the country would imagine
there must be some secret ailment or mysterious sorrow
oppressing you, which you wished to conceal, so as to spare the
feelings of a dear, sympathizing friend, but which he, in the
depth of his anxiety, would desire to hear of. I have often
listened to these prolonged salutations in the house, the
street, and the highway, and not unfrequently I have experienced
their tedious monotony, and I have bitterly lamented useless
waste of time" (Porter, Through Samaria, etc.). The work on
which the disciples were sent forth was one of urgency, which
left no time for empty compliments and prolonged greetings (Luke
10:4).

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Salutation \Sal`u*ta"tion\, n. [L. salutatio: cf. F. salutation.
See {Salute}.]
The act of saluting, or paying respect or reverence, by the
customary words or actions; the act of greeting, or
expressing good will or courtesy; also, that which is uttered
or done in saluting or greeting.

In all public meetings or private addresses, use those
forms of salutation, reverence, and decency usual
amongst the most sober persons. --Jer. Taylor.

Syn: Greeting; salute; address.

Usage: {Salutation}, {Greeting}, {Salute}. Greeting is the
general word for all manner of expressions of
recognition, agreeable or otherwise, made when persons
meet or communicate with each other. A greeting may be
hearty and loving, chilling and offensive, or merely
formal, as in the opening sentence of legal documents.
Salutation more definitely implies a wishing well, and
is used of expressions at parting as well as at
meeting. It is used especially of uttered expressions
of good will. Salute, while formerly and sometimes
still in the sense of either greeting or salutation,
is now used specifically to denote a conventional
demonstration not expressed in words. The guests
received a greeting which relieved their
embarrassment, offered their salutations in
well-chosen terms, and when they retired, as when they
entered, made a deferential salute.

Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the
uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings
in the markets. --Luke xi. 43.

When Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the
babe leaped in her womb. --Luke i. 41.

I shall not trouble my reader with the first
salutes of our three friends. --Addison.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

salutation
n 1: an act of honor or courteous recognition: "a musical salute
to the composer on his birthday" [syn: {salute}]
2: (usually plural) an acknowledgment or expression of good
will (especially on meeting) [syn: {greeting}]
3: word of greeting used to begin a letter


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