■ noun an instance or manner of greeting someone.
↘a pleased or approving reaction.
■ exclamation used to greet someone in a glad or friendly way.
■ verb
1》 greet (someone arriving) in a glad, polite, or friendly way.
2》 be glad to receive or hear of: the decision was widely ~d.
■ adjective
1》 (of a guest or new arrival) gladly received.
2》 very pleasing because much needed or desired.
3》 allowed or invited to do a specified thing: you are ~ to join in.
↘( ~ to ) used to indicate relief at relinquishing something to another: you're ~ to it!
Derivatives
~ly adverb
~ness noun
~r noun
welcoming noun & adjective
welcomingly adverb
Origin
OE wilcuma 'a person whose coming is pleasing', wilcumian (v.), from wil- 'desire, pleasure' + cuman 'come'; change to wel- influenced by OFr. bien venu or ON velkominn .