Salutation

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This page discusses salutation in the sense of greeting. For the computing technique, see: Salutation (computing)

A salutation is any word or words used as a greeting (i.e. to say hello, welcome, etc.). The word comes from the latin, and can be contrasted with a valediction, which is to say goodbye. A salutation may be a word (e.g. "hello"), a few words, a longer phrase, or even a whole speech.

In letters, salutations are normally phrases such as "Dear Mr. Smith", "Dear Sir/Madam".

A 'letter' is a formal, printed (handwritten or typed) message from one person to another. Letters are usually intended to be a means of communication to be received by someone far away. Before the widespread availability of the typewriter and computers, letters were always written by hand. Nowadays, only widely used by companies, letters are sent out to large numbers of people who may not have access to the internet or the facility to communicate using e-mail. The term letter is sometimes used for e-mail with a formal letter-like format. Historically, letters exist from the time of ancient Egypt and Sumer, all the way through Rome and Greece and China. Letters make up several of the books of the Christian Bible.