Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- interj. Used to greet someone, answer the telephone, or express surprise.
- n. A calling or greeting of "hello.”
- v. To call "hello.”
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- An exclamation designed to attract the attention of a person at a distance; also, a mere greeting between persons meeting. As a greeting its use is confined to easy colloquial or vulgar speech. As a preliminary telephone call it is now (1889) in very common use.
Wiktionary
- interj. A greeting (salutation) said when meeting someone or acknowledging someone’s arrival or presence.
- interj. A greeting used when answering the telephone.
- interj. A call for response if it is not clear if anyone is present or listening, or if a telephone conversation may have been disconnected.
- interj. colloquial Used sarcastically to imply that the person addressed or referred to has done something the speaker or writer considers to be foolish.
- interj. An expression of puzzlement or discovery.
- n. "Hello!" or an equivalent greeting.
GNU Webster's 1913
- interj. 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.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an expression of greeting
Etymologies
- 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. (Wiktionary)
- Alteration of hallo, alteration of obsolete holla, stop!, perhaps from Old French hola : ho, ho! + la, there (from Latin illāc, that way). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
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。”
“The word hello got stuck in her mouth as she looked at a bloodied and battered Derek De Graff.”
“The doctors took the pen and wrote the word "hello" on a piece of paper.”
“During the investigation, the UKBA found one prospective student, interviewed by phone, could only answer most questions with the word "hello".”
“Step 1: Identifying Recognition Confusion Using the Simple Speech Recognizer, add the word "hello" to the list of words to be recognized.”
“1877: Thomas Edison suggests using the word hello as a telephone greeting.”
“Anyone and everyone who wants to show up and say 'hello' is welcome to do so.”
“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.”
“To get me at hello is to give me what I want when I want it and how I want it.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘hello’.
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Public List: Two by Fives
This is an experiment in public lists--something I've been thinking about for some time. The goal is to create a collection of short, powerful, evocative words.
This is an open list. A...icy, howl, hymn, thorn, fire, vile, mist, blunt, scum, dark, shot, gleam and 221 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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UK Usage - Find US Equivalent
All these terms have a (different) American English equivalent. Wonder if you can identify them?
abridgement (abri..., accoutrement, accoutre, acknowledgement (..., opposite, advert, adaptor, adapter, sticking plaster, advertise, adviser (advisor ..., adze, aesthete and 1196 more...
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FUN - Beatles song titles
Typical words from Beatles song titles. Can you recreate the titles?
(Grammatical words have been omitted)polythene, Sun King, rhythm and blues, taxman, tripper, monkey business, mailman, matchbox, rock and roll, ooh, blue jay, reprise and 388 more...
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TECH - web application frameworks
limit, pack, automatic, HTTP, database, poi, event, coverage, core, hibernate, function, product and 310 more...
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Words that can be spelled on an upsid...
Imagine my joy when I was wearing my calculator watch and was first introduced to someone named Leslie - there was exactly enough room on the display for 317537.14.
Edit: I've discove...hi, hello, leslie, sheesh, she, bells, hells, hog, boss, goggles, he, bob and 233 more...
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Greetings
Things I say to people!
hi, hello, how are you doing, top of the day to..., hola, hey, what are you doing, what's that stran..., get out of the ba..., you again, is your homework ..., where's my other ... and 31 more...
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salutes
hail, greet, toast, gesture, saluter, doff, gratulate, acclaim, halse, panegyric, salue, salve and 45 more...
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GCI
spinster, maiden, happy-go-lucky, homonym, ill-at-ease, saw red, out of sorts, hot under the collar, taken aback, pen-names, alias, shoelaces and 378 more...
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Random Words
lochia, confused, innoxious, naive, cockatrice, derisive, parsley, passive, casual, football, innuendo, Rumanian and 170 more...
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Twitter favorites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favorite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
grabbable, retuiteando, leaving, fantastic, absolutely, kurwa, hella, ridic, underpass, hate, interlude, plush and 2369 more... -
lunathemoon's list
This is for those words that sound slang, but are actually formal terms.
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good ones
grumble, fumble, bumble, stumble, crumble, mumble, jumble, humble, bramble, scramble, amble, ramble and 191 more...
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The braggadocio recipe
A selection of English* words ending with a vowel (except "y", "ea", ie", "ee", "oo", "ea", "ou") that is REALLY pronounced.
My favorite English words, by the way.
The good twin of The ...braggadocio, recipe, encyclopedia, solo, gnu, flu, maybe, apocope, mini, arrhythmia, folio, stereo and 197 more...
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Two years
Okay, I admit it. I made a list of words my daughter knew when she was two years old.
bat, baba, a, abalone, about, acorn, adrienne, after, again, airplane, alison, all and 694 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for hello.
bilby 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! Jan 11, 2013
sarra is it me you're looking for? Mar 11, 2011
fbharjo limbo-o? Feb 13, 2011
fbharjo Keshi - hello in zuni
Jun 15, 2009
fbharjo hola Jun 15, 2009
bilby 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'." Jun 15, 2009
tbtabby Please tell me this is fake. Jun 15, 2009
arcadia Exactly what I meant. So, is it? Dec 1, 2008
bilby Aarrggh, I've been leg-pulled! Dec 1, 2008
bilby 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". Dec 1, 2008
sionnach what? Dec 1, 2008
Prolagus ...mably what? Dec 1, 2008
sionnach Presumably 'actual' in the sense of 'current'. Dec 1, 2008
Prolagus ...actual what? Dec 1, 2008
arcadia Is this actual? Dec 1, 2008
bilby Supposedly, there is a 'good' reason for saying hello. Dec 1, 2008
andeezy "is that guy... *hello*? Dec 7, 2006