salute

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English saluten,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Latin salūtō (“to greet, pay one's respects to”),^{[5][6][2][3][7]} from salūs (“health, welfare, greeting”).^[5][6][8][7] The Latin verb literally meant "to wish health to", since greetings usually wished good health.^[6][2][9] Salūs is related to salvus (“safe”),^[6][8] from Proto-Indo-European *sol- (“whole, well-kept”).^[6][3] It replaced an earlier Middle English verb salue, from Old French saluer.^[10][6] The noun is partly from Old French salut and partly from the English verb;^[11][10][7] the OED explains French salut as both a verbal noun of saluer and a continuation of the Latin noun itself, in the sense of health or safety.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To greet someone with words of good will or respect: about 1380, in Wyclif,^[5] and before 1382 in the Wycliffite Bible.^[2] An older verb salue is recorded from about 1300.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Greeting by a gesture rather than by words is recorded from about 1440.^[5][2] Military and naval saluting, paying respect to a superior by a set movement or by firing guns or displaying flags, dates from 1582,^[5][6] and in the 18th century the verb often meant to greet with a kiss.^[6][5] The noun, recorded from before 1400, followed the same course:^[5][2] a kiss of greeting (1590), a discharge of guns or dipping of flags in honour of someone (1698),^[5][2][6] and the hand raised to the cap, which Etymonline dates from 1832 and Barnhart from 1876, after an older salute made by raising the hat (1779).^[6][2][5] Fencers' formal greeting before a bout is called a salute from 1809.^[5] In French the noun also named a 15th-century gold coin showing the Annunciation, struck by Charles VI of France and by Henry V and Henry VI of England, and salute is used for it in English from 1455.^[5][11][4] Johnson (1755) defined the noun simply as salutation or greeting.^[12]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – salue, to greet (an earlier verb).^[6]
• c. 1380 – to greet with words of good will or respect.^[5]
• a1400 – noun, a greeting or gesture of greeting.^[5][2]
• c. 1440 – to greet with a gesture of respect.^[5][2]
• 1455 – noun, a French gold coin showing the Annunciation.^[5]
• 1582 – military and naval: to pay respect by a set gesture or by firing guns.^[5]
• 1590 – noun, a kiss of greeting.^[5]
• 1698 – noun, a discharge of guns or display of flags as a mark of honour.^[5][2]
• 1809 – fencing: the formal greeting before a bout.^[5]
• 1832 – noun, the hand raised to the cap or forehead in military greeting.^[5][6]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To make a formal military gesture of respect to someone, especially by raising the right hand to the forehead or by presenting arms: The sentry saluted the general.
2. To greet someone with words or with a gesture of respect, such as a bow.
3. To praise or honour publicly: The mayor saluted the volunteers for their work.

Noun

1. A formal military gesture of respect, such as raising the hand to the forehead.
2. An act of greeting; a salutation.
3. A firing of guns, dipping of flags or similar act in honour of someone: a 21-gun salute.
4. (fencing) The formal greeting of fencers before a bout.
5. (historical) A French gold coin of the 15th century, also struck by English kings.

Word family

• saluter
• resalute
• unsaluted
• unsaluting

Related words

• salubrious
• salutary
• salutation
• safe
• save
• salvo

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
9. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.