salutation n. a gesture or utterance made as a greeting or acknowledgment of another's arrival or departure: we greeted them but no one returned our salutations ; he raised his glass in salutation.

a standard formula of words used in a letter to address the person being written to.

Derivatives salutational adj.
Origin late middle English: from Old French, or from Latin salutatio, from salutare 'pay one's respects to' (see salute).