Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • interjection Used to greet someone, answer the telephone, or express surprise.
  • noun A calling or greeting of “hello.”
  • intransitive verb To call “hello.”

from The Century Dictionary.

  • An exclamation designed to attract the attention of a person at a distance; also, a mere greeting between persons meeting.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • interjection An exclamation used as a greeting, to call attention, as an exclamation of surprise, or to encourage one. This variant of halloo and holloo has become the dominant form. In the United States, it is the most common greeting used in answering a telephone.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • interjection A greeting (salutation) said when meeting someone or acknowledging someone’s arrival or presence.
  • interjection A greeting used when answering the telephone.
  • interjection A call for response if it is not clear if anyone is present or listening, or if a telephone conversation may have been disconnected.
  • interjection colloquial Used sarcastically to imply that the person addressed or referred to has done something the speaker or writer considers to be foolish.
  • interjection An expression of puzzlement or discovery.
  • noun "Hello!" or an equivalent greeting.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an expression of greeting

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration of hallo, alteration of obsolete holla, stop!, perhaps from Old French hola : ho, ho! + la, there (from Latin illāc, that way).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Hello (first attested in 1846) from hallo (attested 1840), from holla, hollo (attested 1588). This variant of hallo is often credited to Thomas Edison as a coinage for telephone use, but its appearance in print predates the invention of the telephone by several decades.

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Examples

  • Slide 35: AST変換: @Category / @Mixin interface Mixed {} @Category (Mixed) class CatClass {def hello () {println \ "hello\"}} @Mixin (CatClass) class MyClass implements Mixed {} x = new MyClass () x. hello () ※ interface Mixedの意義が不明。

    Recently Uploaded Slideshows 2009

  • The word hello got stuck in her mouth as she looked at a bloodied and battered Derek De Graff.

    Extreme Measures Vince Flynn 2009

  • The doctors took the pen and wrote the word "hello" on a piece of paper.

    Woman Swallows Pen: Incredible Writing Utensil Still Works After 25 Years In Woman's Stomach 2011

  • During the investigation, the UKBA found one prospective student, interviewed by phone, could only answer most questions with the word "hello".

    BBC News - Home 2011

  • Step 1: Identifying Recognition Confusion Using the Simple Speech Recognizer, add the word "hello" to the list of words to be recognized.

    Site Home Robert Lucero 2012

  • More tshirt jeans and hoodie fashion online look at my name hello :

    unknown title 2011

  • More tshirt jeans and hoodie fashion online look at my name hello :

    unknown title 2011

  • 1877: Thomas Edison suggests using the word hello as a telephone greeting.

    Wired Top Stories Tony Long 2011

  • Anyone and everyone who wants to show up and say 'hello' is welcome to do so.

    Real Quick moriarty6 2006

  • A quick "hello" is more than enough in most cases, and when you run into many people every day, greeting everyone is neither necessary nor preferred.

    When In Rome ... 2006

Comments

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  • "is that guy... *hello*?

    December 7, 2006

  • Supposedly, there is a 'good' reason for saying hello.

    December 1, 2008

  • Is this actual?

    December 1, 2008

  • ...actual what?

    December 1, 2008

  • Presumably 'actual' in the sense of 'current'.

    December 1, 2008

  • ...mably what?

    December 1, 2008

  • what?

    December 1, 2008

  • I think arcadia was asking if the linguistic theory I linked to is true, ie. that "the first two syllables in a conversation will generally not be understood".

    December 1, 2008

  • Aarrggh, I've been leg-pulled!

    December 1, 2008

  • Exactly what I meant. So, is it?

    December 2, 2008

  • Please tell me this is fake.

    June 15, 2009

  • See here.

    In any case, Online Etymology Dictionary suggests:

    "1883, alt. of hallo (1840), itself an alt. of holla, hollo, a shout to attract attention, first recorded 1588. Perhaps from holla! 'stop, cease'."

    June 15, 2009

  • hola

    June 15, 2009

  • Keshi - hello in zuni

    June 15, 2009

  • limbo-o?

    February 14, 2011

  • is it me you're looking for?

    March 12, 2011

  • Hello coffin.

    Hello conscientious tin.

    Hello alienation!

    Hello animosity!

    Murderous wildebeest simplified nonsense. You can do it too. Am I not right?

    Could you say hello to a....?

    Hello glove!

    Hello!

    Hello strangely plague!

    Here's Mr. Quarkabe's careful amputee.

    Hi Mr. Quarkabe!

    Hi atheoretical amputee.

    What a sensual sea?

    Goodbye Mr. Quarkabe; you need an angering amputee!

    January 12, 2013

  • Aa- look it up it's a real word ;)

    September 20, 2017

  • ╔┓┏╦━━╦┓╔┓╔━━╗

    ║┗┛║┗━╣┃║┃║ 0 0 ║

    ║┏┓║┏━╣┗╣┗╣╰╯║

    ╚┛┗╩━━╩━╩━╩━━

    October 13, 2018