What does salutation mean?
Word: Salutation
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Salutation means the words used to address or welcome someone, especially at the start of a letter, such as Dear Sir.
Word origin: From Latin salutatio, built on salus.
How do you spell salutation?
Syllables: sal - u - ta - tion
Tricky part: The second vowel is the trap. It is said so weakly that students guess and write salatation or saletation.
Watch out for: salatation, saletation
Memory tip: Salute comes to the rescue: when you salute someone you hear that vowel clearly as a u, and it stays a u here.
Salutation in a sentence
Example 1: My grandfather still begins every letter with the salutation 'My dear child'.
Example 2: The printed letter had no name in its salutation, only 'Dear Customer'.
Example 3: The two captains exchanged a friendly salutation before the toss.
Fun Fact
In a formal British letter the salutation decides the close: Dear Sir or Madam goes with Yours faithfully, and Dear Mr Rao goes with Yours sincerely.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Tally
How many words are misspelt in the given sentence?
Priya checked the sallutation at the top of her letter to the principal and then corrected the adress on the envelope.
a) 3
b) 1
c) 0
d) 2
Show answer
d) 2. Two words are wrong: the page word takes one l, and address takes a double d.
Jumble Tumble
What is the meaning of the word that can be formed from the given letters?
tualsoitan
a) the short note added below a finished letter
b) the polite opening with which you greet someone
c) the list of topics to be covered at a meeting
d) the printed name and address on office paper
Show answer
b) the polite opening with which you greet someone. Rearranged, the letters spell salutation, the part that comes before anything else in a letter.
Spell Spies
Choose the pair which has a spelling error:
a) navigate : navigation
b) dictate : dictation
c) salute : salutation
d) hesitate : hesitasion
Show answer
d) hesitate : hesitasion. Each pair joins a verb to its noun, and hesitate makes hesitation with the usual -tion.
Back to the Roots
Choose the correct option:
Salutation goes back to the Latin word salus, which means ___.
a) good health
b) bright light
c) open road
d) tall tower
Show answer
a) good health. Wishing someone good health was an old way of greeting them, and the meaning grew from there.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A formal letter needs a salutation. Which of these would serve?
a) Thank you for reading,
b) With best wishes,
c) Dear Mrs Kapoor,
d) Please reply soon,
Show answer
c) Dear Mrs Kapoor,
2. Which of these phrases works as a spoken salutation?
a) Good morning, everyone
b) Thanks for coming
c) See you next week
d) Goodbye for now
Show answer
a) Good morning, everyone
