welcome

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See also: Welcome

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English welcome, wolcume, wulcume, wilcume, from Old English wilcuma (“a wished-for guest”; compare also wilcume (“welcome!”, interjection)), from Proto-West Germanic *willjakwemō, from Proto-Germanic *wiljakwemô (“a wished-for arrival or guest”), possibly from *wiljakwemaną (“to be welcome”), equivalent to will (“desire”) +‎ come (“comer, arrival”). The component wil- was replaced by wel- when the sense “guest” of the second component was no longer understood, likely under influence from the adverb well. Cognate with Scots walcome, West Frisian wolkom, Dutch welkom (earlier willecome), German willkommen, German Low German willkamen, Danish velkommen, Norwegian Bokmål velkommen, Norwegian Nynorsk velkomen, velkommen, Swedish välkommen, Icelandic velkominn, Faroese vælkomin, and Old French wilecome (whence Middle French willecomme (“welcome”)), from Germanic.

The verb is from Middle English welcomen, wolcumen, wilcumen, from Old English wellcumian, wylcumian, wilcumian (“to welcome, receive gladly”).

Similar constructions are found in Romance languages, such as Italian benvenuto, Spanish bienvenido, French bienvenu, Catalan benvingut, Portuguese bem-vindo and Romanian bun venit, meaning “[may you have fared] well [in] coming [here]”. These do not derive from a Classical Latin root, as no similar construction in Latin is found to exist, but are instead presumed to be the result of a calque from, considering the ruling elite of the Germanic kingdoms which succeeded the Western Roman Empire, a Germanic language into Proto-Romance (Vulgar Latin; see Latin *bene venūtus, and compare perdōnō and compāniō for similar historical calques).

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

welcome (comparative more welcome, superlative most welcome)

  1. Whose arrival is a cause of joy; received with gladness; admitted willingly to the house, entertainment, or company.
    a welcome visitor
    Refugees welcome to education!
    • 1782, William Cowper, The Progress of Error:
      When the glad soul is made Heaven's welcome guest.
  2. Producing gladness.
    a welcome present;  welcome news
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      “A very welcome, kind, useful present, that means to the parish. By the way, Hopkins, let this go no further. We don't want the tale running round that a rich person has arrived. Churchill, my dear fellow, we have such greedy sharks, and wolves in lamb's clothing.  […] ”
  3. Free to have or enjoy gratuitously.
    You are welcome to the use of my library.
    • 1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC:
      As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish, but I would not go out of my way to protest against it. My servant is, so far as I am concerned, welcome to as many votes as he can get. I would very gladly make mine over to him if I could.

Translations[edit]

Interjection[edit]

welcome

  1. Greeting given upon someone's arrival.
  2. (nonstandard, especially Southern US) Ellipsis of you're welcome.

Usage notes[edit]

When used with reference to a place, “welcome” is always followed by “to”. The signs often seen in many non-English-speaking countries welcoming tourists with “in”, such as “Welcome in Heidelberg!”, sound unnatural to some English speakers and show interference from other languages, many of which use a cognate of “in” in this situation, and especially with a cognate of “welcome”.

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Noun[edit]

welcome (plural welcomes)

  1. The act of greeting someone’s arrival, especially by saying "Welcome!"; reception.
  2. The utterance of such a greeting.
  3. Kind reception of a guest or newcomer.
    We entered the house and found a ready welcome.
    • 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, 6th edition, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] J[ames] Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, […], published 1727, →OCLC:
      Truth finds an entrance and a welcome too.
    • 1735, William Shenstone, Written at an inn at Henley:
      the warmest welcome at an inn
  4. The state of being a welcome guest.
    • 1992, Dana Stabenow, A Cold Day for Murder, →ISBN, page 42:
      The townspeople crossed freely from bank to bank, and it stayed that way until breakup in March or April or, in years when winter outstayed its welcome, maybe even May.

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb[edit]

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.
    • 2020 January 29, “Woman jailed for conning her friend into giving up her job for a dream post that never existed”, in CPS Mersey-Cheshire‎[1], London: Crown Prosecution Service, retrieved 2020-04-02:
      CPS MerseyCheshire welcomes the jailing of Helen Dove who conned her friend into giving up her job for a dream post that never existed. Kimberley McDonnell lost around £50,000 because of the fraudster.
    • 2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)
      Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang welcomed cooperation with South Korea.
      Audio (US)(file)

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb welcome

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

Middle English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old English wilcuma, equivalent to wille +‎ come. Forms with /ɛ/ have been assimilated to wel.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈwilˌkum(ə)/, /ˈwulˌkum(ə)/, /ˈwɛlˌkum(ə)/

Adjective[edit]

welcome

  1. welcome

Descendants[edit]

  • English: welcome
  • Yola: welkome, welcome

References[edit]

Yola[edit]

Adjective[edit]

welcome

  1. Alternative form of welkome

References[edit]

  • Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 77
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