welcome

English

Etymology

Middle English welcǒme, welcǒm, from Old English wilcuma, meaning literally “well +‎ come” (“May you have fared well in coming here!”). The Old English term was in Middle English reanalyzed, with the first element assimilated to wel (“well”), and second element to cǒme (cǒm, cume, cum), presumably under influence of Old French bienvenue, bienvenu (Modern French bienvenue, bienvenu), of same ultimate origin.

Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *wilja-kumô (“well-come”), from which cognate to German willkommen, Middle High German willekomen, Old High German willechomen, Dutch welkom, Danish and Norwegian velkommen, Swedish välkommen.

Similar constructions are common in Romance languages, such as Spanish bienvenido, French bienvenue and Portuguese bem-vindo, each also meaning “[may you have fared] well [in] coming [here]”. These do not derive from Classic Latin, where a similar construction is not found, and presumably are instead the result of a calque from Germanic to Proto-Romance (Vulgar Latin).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈwɛl.kəm/, SAMPA: /"welk@m/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (UK)

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Interjection

welcome

1. Greeting given upon someone’s arrival.

Translations

greeting given upon someone's arrival

Adangme: mo-hee-e Afrikaans: welkom! Albanian: mirë se vjen (sq), mirësevjen (sq), mirë se vini (sq), mirësevini (sq) American Sign Language: OpenB@DistalSideChesthigh-PalmAcross RoundVert OpenB@DistalInsideTrunkhigh-PalmUp RoundHoriz OpenB@NearCenterTrunkhigh-PalmUp Amharic: እንኳን ደህና መጡ (am) pl. Arabic: أهلاً وسهلاً (ar) ('áhlan wa-sáhlan) Armenian: բարի գալուստ (hy) (bari galust) Aromanian: ghini vinishi sg., ghini vinit pl. Azeri: xoş gəlmişsiniz! Basque: ongi etorri! Belarusian: вiтаем (vitájem), прывiтанне (pryvitánne) Bengali: স্বাগতম (bn) (sbāgôtôm) Bosnian: dobrodošli! Breton: degemer mat ! Bulgarian: добре дошъл (dobre došãl) sg., добре дошли (dobre došli) pl. Burmese: ကြိုဆိုပါ၏  (my) Catalan: benvingut! m., benvinguda! f. benvinguts pl., benvingudes f. pl. Cebuano: maayong pag-abot Chechen: маьрша воагӀийл (märsha wooghiil) m., маьрша йогӀийл (märsha yooghiil) f., маьрша догӀийла (märsha dooghiila) pl. Cherokee: ᎤᎵᎮᎵᏍᏗ (ulihebisdi) Chinese: Dungan: хуан-ин (huan-ying) Mandarin: 歡迎光臨 (cmn), 欢迎光临 (cmn) (huānyíng guānglín), 歡迎 (cmn), 欢迎 (cmn) (huānyíng) Taiwanese: 歡迎光臨, 欢迎光临 (hoan-geng5-kong-lim5) Cantonese: 歡迎, 欢迎 (fòonying) Hakka: 歡迎, 欢迎 (fon2 ngiang2) Cornish: dynnargh dhis Corsican: bonavinuta Croatian: dobrodošli! Czech: vítáme tě, vítej (sg/informal), vítáme vás, vítejte (pl/formal) Danish: velkommen (da)! Dutch: welkom! Esperanto: bonvenon! Estonian: tere tulemast! Ewe: wòe zɔ sg., miawoe zɔ pl. Faroese: vælkoma (fo) Finnish: tervetuloa! French: bienvenue (fr) Georgian: კეთილი იყოს თქვენი მობრძანება (ket'ili ikos tkʼveni mobrżaneba) pl., კეთილი იყოს შენი მობრძანება (ket'ili ikos šeni mobrżaneba) sg. German: willkommen (de) Middle High German: willekomen! Old High German: willechomen! Greek: καλώς ορίσατε! (kalós orísate), καλώς ήρθες! Ancient Greek: χαῖρε (khaire) Greenlandic: tikilluarit Guaraní: tereg̃uahẽ porãite!, eguahé porá! Hawaiian: aloha Hebrew: !בָּרוּךְ הַבָּא (barúkh habá) m., !ברוכה הבאה (brukhá habáa) f., !ברוכים הבאים (brukhím habaím) pl., !ברוכות הבאות (brukhót habaót) f. pl. Hindi: स्वागतम (hi) (svāgatam), स्वागत है (hi) (svāgat hai) Hungarian: Isten hozott (hu)! (less formal), Isten hozta (hu)! (more formal) Icelandic: velkominn (is)! m., velkomin (is) (f sg & mixed pl), velkomnir (is) m. pl., velkomnar (is) f. pl. Ido: bonveno Igbo: nno̱, nnọọ Indonesian: Standard Indonesian: selamat datang! Javanese: sugeng rawuh! Sundanese: wilujeng sumping! Interlingua: benvenite! Inuktitut: ᐊᕆᐅᙵᐃᐹ (arionngaipaa) Irish: fáilte (ga), tá fáilte romhat (ga), tá fáilte romhaibh (ga), céad míle fáilte (ga), fáilte romhat isteach (ga) Italian: benvenuto! m., benvenuta! f., benvenuti! pl., benvenute! f. pl., salve Japanese: ようこそ (ja) (yōkoso), いらっしゃいませ (ja) (irasshaimase), いらっしゃい (ja) (irasshai) Judeo-Arabic: harif Jèrriais: séyiz l'beinv'nu !, séyiz la beinv'nue ! f., séyiz les beinv'nus ! pl. Kazakh: қош келдіңіз!, qoş keldiñiz!, قوش كەلدٴىڭٴىز! Khmer: ស្វាគមន៍ (km) (swagum) Korean: 잘 오셨습니다 (ko) (jal osyeotsimnida), 환영합니다 (ko) (hwan-yeong-hamnida) Kurdish: Kurmanji: bi xêr bên (ku) pl., bi xêr bê (ku) sg. Sorani: به‌خێربێی (ku) (ba xêr bêi) sg., به‌خێربێن (ku) (be xêr bên) pl. Latin: salve! sg., salvete! pl. Latvian: laipni lūdzam! pl.

Limburgish: wilkóm Lithuanian: sveiki atvykę Lojban: fi'i Lule Sami: buerie båeteme Luxembourgish: wëllkëmm! Wëllkomm Macedonian: добредојде! (dobrédojde!) (singular and informal), добредојдовте! (dobredójdovte!) (plural or formal) Malay: selamat datang (ms) Malayalam: സ്വാഗതം (svaagatham) Maltese: merħba (mt) Manx: failt, failt royd Maori: haere mai, nau mai Marathi: स्वागत आहे (svāgat āhe) Mazanderani: خش ‌بیمونی Mi'kmaq: weltasualuleg Mongolian: тавтай морилогтун (tavtai morilogtun) Nahuatl: panoa (verb; singular: ximopanōlti; plural: ximopanōltih; literally, "do pass yourself/ves") Navajo: yáʼátʼééh Ngarrindjeri: nguldi arndu Norfuk: welkam Northern Sami: bures boahtin Norwegian: velkommen (no) Occitan: benvengut Ojibwe: aaniin, boozhoo Old Church Slavonic: Cyrillic: до́брѣ прити́ (dóbrě prití) Glagolitic: ⰴⱁⰱⱃⱑ ⱂⱃⰻⱅⰻ (dóbrě prití) Papiamentu: bon bini! Persian: (literary, polite) خوش آمدید (fa) (xoš âmadid), (literary, familiar) خوش آمدی (fa) (xoš âmadi), (colloquial, polite) خوش اومدین (fa) (xoš umadin), (colloquial, familiar) خوش اومدی (fa) (xoš umadi) Polish: witaj! sg., witajcie! pl., witamy Portuguese: bem-vindo! m., bem-vinda! f., bem-vindos! pl., bem-vindas! f. pl. Punjabi: ਜੀ ਆਇਆ ਨੂੰ (jī āiā nūng) Romanian: bine ai venit! sg., bine ați venit! pl., bun venit, bine ai venit Russian: добро пожаловать (ru) (dobró požálovat’)! Sanskrit: स्वागतम् (sa) (svāgatam) Sardinian: bene bennios Scots: walcum Scottish Gaelic: fàilte, ceud mìle fàilte Serbian: Cyrillic: добродошли! Roman: dobrodošli! Sicilian: binvinutu Sindhi: !ڀلي ڪري آيا (bhalie karay aaya) Sinhalese: ආයුබෝවන් (si) (āyubōvan) Slovak: vitajte Slovene: dobrodošel! m., dobrodošla! f., dobrodošli! pl. Somali: soo dhowow Southern Sami: buorre boahtem Spanish: ¡bienvenido! m., ¡bienvenida! f., bienvenidos pl. Sukuma: tuliho! Swahili: karibu! Swedish: välkommen (sv)!, välkomna (sv) pl. Tagalog: maligayang pagdating, Mabuhay Tahitian: maeva, manava Tajik: хуш омадед (tg) (xuš omaded), хуш омадӣ (tg) (xuš omadī) Tarantino: bovègne Tatar: räxim itegez! Telugu: స్వాగతం (svaagataM) Thai: ยินดีต้อนรับ (th) (yindee dtôn ráp) Tigrinya: ገንዘብካ (genzebka = it is yours) እንቋዕ ብደሐን መጻእካ (ənqwaˋ bdeHen meSaəka = wonderful that you have arrived safely) እንቋዕ ብድሐን ጸናሕካ (ənqwaˋ bdeHen SenaHka = wonderful that you have stayed well [response to above]) Turkish: hoşgeldin (tr) sg., hoşgeldiniz (tr) pl. (formal) Tz'utujil: utz epejtiik Ukrainian: ласкаво просимо! (laskavo prosymo) Urdu: خوش آمديد (ur) (khūś āmadīd) Uyghur: !خۇش كەپسىز (hoş kepsiz) Uzbek: xush kelibsiz Venetian: benvegnuo Vietnamese: xin chào (vi), chào (vi), hoan nghênh (vi) (歡迎 (vi)), được tiếp đi ân cần (vi) Volapük: vekömö! Walloon: benvnuwe Welsh: croeso!, croeso, croeso cynnes iawn West Frisian: wolkom! Woods Cree: ᑕᐋᐧᐤ (tawâw = come in, there's room) Xhosa: wamkelekile sg., namkelekile pl. Yiddish: !װילקום (wilkum) pl., ברוכים־הבאים (brukhim-haboim) sg., ברוך־הבא (borekh-habo) Zulu: isibingelelo!, sawubona!, uwamkelekile

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Batak Alas-Kluet: menjuah-juah! horas! Batak Angkola: menjuah-juah! horas! Batak Dairi: menjuah-juah! horas! Batak Karo: menjuah-juah! horas!

Batak Mandailing: menjuah-juah! horas! Batak Simalungun: menjuah-juah! horas! Batak Toba: menjuah-juah! horas! Northern Sami: bures boahtin

Verb

welcome (third-person singular simple present welcomes, present participle welcoming, simple past and past participle welcomed)

1. to affirm or greet the arrival of someone, especially by saying "Welcome!".
2. to accept something willingly or gladly.

   We welcome suggestions for improvement.

Translations

affirm or greet the arrival of someone

Afrikaans: verwelkom (af) American Sign Language: OpenB@DistalSideChesthigh-PalmAcross RoundVert OpenB@DistalInsideTrunkhigh-PalmUp RoundHoriz OpenB@NearCenterTrunkhigh-PalmUp Arabic: رحب (ar) (raHHaba) Bulgarian: приветствам (privétstvam) Catalan: ser benvingut (inf.), digueu benvinguts! (interj.) Chinese: trad. 歡迎, simpl. 欢迎 (pinyin: huānyíng) Czech: vítat (cs) Danish: byde velkommen (da) Dutch: verwelkomen (nl), welkom heten (nl) Esperanto: bonvenigi Filipino: mabuhay Finnish: toivottaa tervetulleeksi French: accueillir, souhaiter la bienvenue German: willkommen heißen (de), begrüßen (de) Hungarian: üdvözöl (hu), fogad (hu) Ido: bonvenigar (io) Indonesian: menyambut (id) Interlingua: dar le benvenita a Italian: accogliere, dare il benvenuto Japanese: 歓迎する (ja) (kangei suru)

Khmer: ទទួល (dordūul) Korean: 환영하다 (hwanyeonghada) Latin: alicuius adventu festum agere (la), alicuius adventu festum ago (la), adventu festum ago (la) Macedonian: пожелува добредојде (mk) (požéluva dobrédojde), пречекува (mk) (prečékuva), прима (mk) (príma) Polish: witać (pl) Portuguese: dar as boas-vindas a Romanian: întâmpina Russian: приветствовать (ru) (privétstvovat’) impf. Scots: walcum Scottish Gaelic: cuir fàilte air (gd) Slovene: izreči dobrodošlico Spanish: dar la bienvenida (a) Swedish: välkomna (sv) Turkish: buyurmak (tr) Vietnamese: chào (đến), hoan nghênh Volapük: vekömön Welsh: croesawu West Frisian: ferwolkomje !Xóõ: tàhʻa

to accept willingly

American Sign Language: FlatB@FromTrunk-PalmUp FlatB@Trunk-PalmUp Chinese: 歡迎, 欢迎, huānyíng Czech: vítat (cs) Dutch: verwelkomen (nl), graag ontvangen (nl)

Finnish: toivottaa tervetulleeksi Japanese: うれしく思う (ja) (ureshiku omou) Russian: приветствовать (ru) (privétstvovat’) impf. Swedish: välkomna (sv)

Adjective

welcome (comparative more welcome, superlative most welcome)

1. Whose arrival is a cause of joy.

Translations

whose arrival is a cause of joy

American Sign Language: OpenB@DistalSideChesthigh-PalmAcross RoundVert OpenB@DistalInsideTrunkhigh-PalmUp RoundHoriz OpenB@NearCenterTrunkhigh-PalmUp Basque: ongi etorri (eu) Bulgarian: желан m., желана f., желано n., желани pl. (želan, želana, želano, želani) Catalan: benvingut m., benvinguda f. Danish: velkommen (da) Dutch: welkom, welkome, graag gezien Esperanto: bonvena Filipino: mabuhay Finnish: tervetullut (fi) French: bienvenu (fr) German: willkommen (de) Hungarian: szívesen látott, kellemes Indonesian: dielu-elukan Interlingua: benvenite Italian: benvenuto (it) m.

Japanese: 歓迎すべき (ja) (kangei subeki) Latin: volens (la), volens (la) m., f., and n., acceptus (la) m., accepta (la) f., acceptum (la) n., volentes (la) m. and f. pl., volentes (la) m. and f. pl., volentia (la) n., volentia (la) n. pl., accepti (la) m. pl., acceptae (la) f. pl., accepta (la) n. pl. Macedonian: добредојден (mk) (dobrédojden) m. Polish: mile widziany (pl) m. Portuguese: bem-vindo (pt) Romanian: binevenit m., binevenită f. Russian: желанный (ru) (želánnyj) Scots: walcum Serbian: željan, željna, željni, željno, poželjan, poželjna, poželjni, poželjno Slovene: dobrodošel m., dobrodošla f. Spanish: bienvenido (es), agradable (es) Vietnamese: được hoan nghênh Volapük: vekömik Welsh: i'w groesawu m., i'w chroesawu f., i'w croesawu pl.

Noun

welcome (plural welcomes)

1. The act of greeting someone’s arrival, especially by saying "Welcome!"; reception.
2. The utterance of such a greeting.

Translations

act of greeting someone’s arrival

American Sign Language: OpenB@DistalSideChesthigh-PalmAcross RoundVert OpenB@DistalInsideTrunkhigh-PalmUp RoundHoriz OpenB@NearCenterTrunkhigh-PalmUp Bulgarian: добре дошъл (bg) (dobre doshal) m., добре дошла (bg) (dobre doshla) f., добре дошла (bg) (dobre doshla) f., добре дошли (bg) (dobre doshli) pl. Danish: byde velkommen (da) Dutch: verwelkoming (nl) f., begroeting (nl) f., ontvangst (nl) f. Finnish: tervetulotoivotus, tervehtiminen, vastaanotto French: bienvenue (fr) f. German: Begrüßung (de) f., Empfang (de) m. Hungarian: fogadtatás (hu), üdvözlés (hu) Italian: accoglienza (it) f.

Japanese: 歓迎 (ja) (kangei) Khmer: ការស្វាគមន៍ (km) Korean: 환영 (hwanyeong) Macedonian: добредојде (mk) (dobrédojde) n., прием (mk) (príem) m. Old Church Slavonic: До́брѣ прити́ (Dobre priti) pl. Polish: powitanie (pl) n. Russian: приём (ru) (prijóm) m. Scots: walcum Scottish Gaelic: fàilte (gd) f. Slovene: dobrodošlica (sl) f. Spanish: acogida (es) f., bienvenida (es) f.

utterance of such a greeting

American Sign Language: OpenB@DistalSideChesthigh-PalmAcross RoundVert OpenB@DistalInsideTrunkhigh-PalmUp RoundHoriz OpenB@NearCenterTrunkhigh-PalmUp Finnish: tervetulotoivotus French: bienvenue (fr) German: Begrüßung (de) f. Hungarian: üdvözlés (hu) Japanese: 歓迎 (ja) (kangei)

Macedonian: добредојде (mk) (dobrédojde) n. Polish: powitanie (pl) n. Russian: приветствие (ru) (privétstvije) n. Scots: walcum Scottish Gaelic: fàilte (gd) f. Slovene: dobrodošlica (sl) f. Urdu: خوش آمدید (ur) (khush amadeed)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Serbo-Croatian: dobrodošlica f. Bulgarian: прием (priem) m. Catalan: benvinguda f. Serbo-Croatian: dobrodošlica f. Dutch: welkom n. Esperanto: bonveno Icelandic: móttökur f. pl. Interlingua: benvenita

Portuguese: boas-vindas f. pl. Romanian: urare de bunvenit Serbian: Cyrillic: добродошлица f. Roman: dobrodošlica f., prijemnica f., prijem m., prijava f. Spanish: bienvenida f. Swahili: makaribisho (1), salamu, maamkizi (2) Urdu: استقبال (istiqbâl), سواگت (svāgat) Vietnamese: sự chào, sự hoan nghênh (1), lời chào, lời hoan nghênh (2) Volapük: veköm Welsh: croeso m.

Derived terms

Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb welcome

wear out one's welcome

welcome wagon

you're welcome