salute

SALU'TE, verb transitive [Latin saluto; salus or salvus.] 1. To greet; to hail; to address with expressions of kind wishes. If ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Matthew 5:47. 2. To please; to gratify. [Unusual.] 3. To kiss. 4. In military and naval affairs, to honor some person or nation by a discharge of cannon or small arms, by striking colors, by shouts, etc. SALU'TE, noun 1. The act of expressing kind wishes or respect; salutation; greeting. 2. A kiss. 3. In military affairs, a discharge of cannon or small arms in honor of some distinguished personage. A salute is sometimes performed by lowering the colors or beating the drums. The officers also salute each other by bowing their half pikes. 4. In the navy, a testimony of respect or deference rendered by the ships of one nation to the ships of another, or by ships of the same nation to a superior or equal. This is performed by a discharge of cannon, volleys of small arms, striking the colors or top-sails, or by shouts of the seamen mounted on the masts or rigging. When two squadrons meet, the two chiefs only are to exchange salutes.