[sal-yuh-tey-shuh
n] 
| 1. | the act of saluting. |
| 2. | something uttered, written, or done by way of saluting. |
| 3. | a word or phrase serving as the prefatory greeting in a letter or speech, as Dear Sir in a letter or Ladies and Gentlemen in a speech. |
| sal·u·ta·tion (sāl'yə-tā'shən) n.
Usage Note: The informality of electronic mail poses a problem for the traditional norms of epistolary style. In a formal e-mail message, there is nothing out of place in beginning with a formula such as Dear Professor Fillmore and closing with Very truly yours. Since e-mail is a relatively new medium for communication, however, set phrases for informal greetings and closings are still being established. At times, the salutation and valediction are left out entirely, even when the correspondents do not know each other well. Informal salutations include common greetings like Hi or simply the addressee's name. People have been much more creative with the closing, employing terms such as best wishes and cheers, the latter term previously associated with British use and perhaps adopted because it sounds a neutral note between the kind of closings used in letters and phone calls. Still more informal is TTFN, an abbreviation for ta-ta for now, another Briticism. |
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).