greet1

[greet] /grit/
verb (used with object)
1.
to address with some form of salutation; welcome.
2.
to meet or receive:
to be greeted by cheering crowds; to greet a proposal with boos and hisses.
3.
to manifest itself to:
Music greeted his ear as he entered the salon.
verb (used without object)
4.
Obsolete. to give salutations on meeting.
Origin
before 900; Middle English greten, Old English grētan; cognate with German grüssen
Related forms
greeter, noun
Synonyms
1. hail, accost.

greet2

[greet] /grit/
verb (used without object)
1.
to grieve; lament; cry.
verb (used with object)
2.
to lament; bewail.
Origin
before 900; Middle English grete, Old English grǣtan; cognate with ON grāta, Gothic gretan
Examples from the web for greet
  • One reason why the army is hesitating is that it knows resistance would greet any move into the red-shirt camp.
  • Students should try to greet the puppet in a way that will make the puppet return their greeting.
  • Churches today frequently ask congregants to greet the people next to them at the end of the service.
  • And sometimes they return to the nest--a return that parents greet with joy and not so much joy.
  • The bunny will go dormant in cold winters, but will put on a new coat of tiny green leaves to greet the spring.
  • In line, people greet each other by name and swap jokes.
  • If you are suddenly feeling confused about whether to greet middle age with open arms or dread, it is understandable.
  • The government sterilization team will greet you when you return home this evening.
  • Even at the outset, the happy natives failed to greet their liberators quite as joyfully as some had so obviously hoped.
  • These elephants greet each other by putting the tip of the trunk into the other's mouth.
British Dictionary definitions for greet

greet1

/ɡriːt/
verb (transitive)
1.
to meet or receive with expressions of gladness or welcome
2.
to send a message of friendship to
3.
to receive in a specified manner: her remarks were greeted by silence
4.
to become apparent to: the smell of bread greeted him
Word Origin
Old English grētan; related to Old High German gruozzen to address

greet2

/ɡriːt/
verb
1.
(intransitive) to weep; lament
noun
2.
weeping; lamentation
Word Origin
from Old English grētan, northern dialect variant of grætan; compare Old Norse grāta, Middle High German grazen
Word Origin and History for greet
v.

Old English gretan "to come in contact with" (in sense of "attack, accost" as well as "salute, welcome," and "touch, take hold of, handle"), from West Germanic *grotjan (cf. Old Saxon grotian, Old Frisian greta, Dutch groeten, Old High German gruozen, German grüßen "to salute, greet"), perhaps originally "to resound" (via notion of "cause to speak"), causative of Proto-Germanic *grætanan, root of Old English grætan (Anglian gretan) "weep, bewail," from PIE *gher- "to call out." Greet still can mean "cry, weep" in Scottish & northern England dialect, though this might be from a different root. Grætan is probably also the source of the second element in regret. Related: Greeted; greeting.