Meanings
noungreeting (countable and uncountable, plural greetings)
plural greetings
- countableuncountableA conventional phrase used to start a letter or conversation or otherwise to acknowledge a person's arrival or presence.
Send my greetings to your family.
2 more examples
It's polite to begin a letter with a greeting, but this practice is less common in email.
Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday greetings.
- uncountableThe action of the verb to greet.
I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC
verb
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of greet
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
Opposite
noun(usually plural) an acknowledgment or expression of good will (especially on meeting)
Similar
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
By surface analysis, greet + -ing.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀσπασμός
- ἀσπασμός (aspasmós)acknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Arabic تَحِيَّة
- تَحِيَّة (taḥiyya)acknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Bengali সালাম
- সালাম (salam)acknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Bulgarian по́здрав, приве́тствие
- по́здрав (pózdrav)acknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
- приве́тствие (privétstvie)acknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Catalan salut, salutació
- salutacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
- salutacióacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Chinese Mandarin 迎接
- 迎接 (yíngjiē)acknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Czech pozdrav
- pozdravacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Danish hilsen
- hilsenacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Dutch begroeting, groet
- begroetingacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
- groetacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Esperanto saluto
- salutoacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Estonian tervitus
- tervitusacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Finnish tervehdys
- tervehdysacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
French salutation, salut
- salutationacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
- salutacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
German Gruß, Begrüßung
- Grußacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
- Begrüßungacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Greek χαιρετισμός
- χαιρετισμός (chairetismós)acknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Hindi अभिवादन
- अभिवादन (abhivādan)acknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Hungarian üdvözlet, köszöntés
- üdvözletacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
- köszöntésacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Icelandic kveðja
- kveðjaacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Italian saluto, benvenuto
- salutoacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
- benvenutoacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Japanese 挨拶
- 挨拶 (aisatsu)acknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Korean 인사
- 인사 (insa)acknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Latin salūtātiō
- salūtātiōacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Latvian sveiciens
- sveiciensacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Lithuanian pasveikinimas
- pasveikinimasacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Malay ucapan
- ucapanacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Māori waioha, mānawa
- waiohaacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
- mānawaacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Norwegian Bokmål hilsen
- hilsenacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Persian پیشواز, تبریک
- پیشواز (pišvâz)acknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
- تبریک (tabrik)acknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
- سلام (salâm)acknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
- احوالپرسی (ahvâl-porsi)acknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Polish pozdrowienie, powitanie
- pozdrowienieacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
- powitanieacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Portuguese saudação
- saudaçãoacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Romanian salut, salutare
- salutacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
- salutareacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Russian приве́тствие
- приве́тствие (privétstvije)acknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Scottish Gaelic fàilte
- fàilteacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Slovak pozdrav
- pozdravacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Spanish saludo, salutación
- saludoacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
- salutaciónacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
- saludaciónacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Swahili salamu
- salamuacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Swedish hälsning, hälsningsfras
- hälsningacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
- hälsningsfrasacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Tagalog pagbati, bati
- pagbatiacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
- batiacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
- saludoacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
- pugayacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Thai การทักทาย
- การทักทาย (gaan-ták-taai)acknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Turkish tebrik, selam
- tebrikacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
- selamacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Ukrainian віта́ння, привіта́ння
- віта́ння (vitánnja)acknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
- привіта́ння (pryvitánnja)acknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Vietnamese lời chào
- lời chàoacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Welsh cyfarchiad
- cyfarchiadacknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Yiddish גרוס
- גרוס (grus)acknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with greeting
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
greeting. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/greeting
MLA
“greeting.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/greeting. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “greeting,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/greeting.
Source: greeting on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.