greet

A2 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ɡɹiːt/ See IPA manual

Freq #5463

Meanings

1

verb
To welcome someone in a friendly way when you meet them.

She greeted her guests warmly at the door.
2

verb
To react to something in a particular way.

The audience greeted the news with loud cheers.
3

verb
To be the first thing that someone sees, hears, or smells.

A beautiful sunrise greeted us as we left the house.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to welcome someone in a... hail

Word family

Forms greetedgreets

Derived forms autogreetbegreetbegruttengreetablegreeteegreetergreetingmeet-and-greetmisgreetregreet

Etymology

From a blend of two Old English verbs, grētan, grǣtan (itself from Proto-West Germanic *grātan); and of Old English grēotan (itself from *greutan), both meaning "to weep, lament". Possibly reinforced in Northern England and Scotland by Old Norse gráta, whence also Danish græde, Norwegian gråte, Swedish gråta, all meaning "to cry, to weep".

*grātan frk gráta Old Norse

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# greet

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ɡɹiːt/
**Frequency rank:** 5463

## Meanings
1. To welcome someone in a friendly way when you meet them.
2. To react to something in a particular way.
3. To be the first thing that someone sees, hears, or smells.

## Examples
- She greeted her guests warmly at the door.
- The audience greeted the news with loud cheers.
- A beautiful sunrise greeted us as we left the house.

## Derived Forms
- autogreet
- begreet
- begrutten
- greetable
- greetee
- greeter
- greeting
- meet-and-greet
- misgreet
- regreet

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *grātan
- Root: gráta

## Etymology
From a blend of two Old English verbs, grētan, grǣtan (itself from Proto-West Germanic *grātan); and of Old English grēotan (itself from *greutan), both meaning "to weep, lament". Possibly reinforced in Northern England and Scotland by Old Norse gráta, whence also Danish græde, Norwegian gråte, Swedish gråta, all meaning "to cry, to weep".

## AI Etymology
Greet comes from a blend of two Old English verbs, grētan, grǣtan (itself from Proto-West Germanic *grātan); and of Old English grēotan (itself from *greutan), both meaning "to weep, lament". Possibly reinforced in Northern England and Scotland by Old Norse gráta, whence also Danish græde, Norwegian gråte, Swedish gråta, all meaning "to cry, to weep". In current use, the main senses are “To welcome someone in a friendly way when you meet them” and “To react to something in a particular way”.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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