Join free

Greet

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

greet¹

  • /ɡɹiːt/

Rhymes with -iːt

Where it comes from

From Middle English greten, from Old English grētan, from Proto-West Germanic *grōtijan, from Proto-Germanic *grōtijaną.

Cognate with Dutch groeten, German grüßen, grüssen.

verb greets · greeting · greeted

  1. transitive To welcome in a friendly manner, either in person or through another means such as writing. My lord, the mayor of London comes to greet you.
  2. transitive To arrive at or reach, or meet. In vain the Spring my Senſes greets / In all her Colours, all her Svveets; / To me the Roſe / No longer glovvs, / Every Plant / Has loſt its Scent: […]
  3. transitive To accost; to address. Fair on his feet the polish'd sandals shine, And thus he greets the master of the swine:
  4. archaic, intransitive To meet and give salutations. There greet in silence, as the dead are wont, And sleep in peace.
  5. figuratively, transitive To be perceived by (someone). A brilliant dawn greeted her eyes as she looked out of the window.

greet²

  • /ɡɹiːt/

Rhymes with -iːt

Where it comes from

From Middle English greet, grete (“great”).

adjective more greet · most greet

  1. Great.

greet³

  • /ɡɹiːt/

Rhymes with -iːt

Where it comes from

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".

verb greets · greeting · greeted · grat

  1. Northern England, Scotland To weep; to cry. And damn't! if he didn't take down her bit things and scone her so sore she grat like a bairn [...].

noun

  1. obsolete, uncountable Mourning, weeping, lamentation.

Greet⁴

proper noun Greets

  1. countable, uncountable A surname.
  2. countable, uncountable A village in Winchcombe parish, Tewkesbury borough, Gloucestershire, England (OS grid ref SP0229).
  3. countable, uncountable A hamlet in Swale borough, Kent, England (OS grid ref TQ9255)
  4. countable, uncountable A suburb in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England (OS grid ref SP1084).
  5. countable, uncountable A minor river in Nottinghamshire, England, which joins the River Trent at Fiskerton (Notts.).

Talk about this word