Dictionary / welcome
welcome
- adjective
- interjection
- noun
- verb
- from Old English
Whose arrival is a cause of joy; received with gladness; admitted willingly to the house, entertainment, or company.
1 All current definitions
Every sense of “welcome” in current use, as recorded by Wiktionary. Older and obsolete senses are kept separately.
adjective
- Whose arrival is a cause of joy; received with gladness; admitted willingly to the house, entertainment, or company.
a welcome visitor
- Producing gladness.
a welcome turn of events; welcome news
- Followed by to: free to have or enjoy gratuitously.
You are welcome to the use of my library.
interjection
- Greeting given upon someone's arrival.
Welcome to the life of Electra Heart!
noun
- The act of greeting someone’s arrival, especially by saying "Welcome!"; reception.
- The utterance of such a greeting.
- Kind reception of a guest or newcomer.
We entered the house and found a ready welcome.
- The state of being a welcome guest; a feeling of one's presence and comfort being desired.
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.1992, Dana Stabenow, A Cold Day for Murder, →ISBN, page 42:
verb
- To affirm or greet the arrival of someone, especially by saying "Welcome!".
But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud,[…]. By the time we reached the house we were thanking our stars she had come. Mrs. Cooke came out from under the port-cochere to welcome her.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
- To accept something willingly or gladly.
We welcome suggestions for improvement.
Cross-check: WordNet senses (6)
- nounthe state of being welcome
- nouna greeting or reception
- verbaccept gladly
- verbbid welcome to; greet upon arrival — also: receive
- verbreceive someone, as into one's house
- adjectivegiving pleasure or satisfaction or received with pleasure or freely granted
2 History of the word
The etymology, the path the word travelled, and the words built from it.
The word’s journey, newest to oldest:
- English (today)welcome
- Middle Englishwelcome
- Old Englishwilcuma “a wished-for guest”
- Proto-West Germanic*willjakwemō
- Proto-Germanic*wiljakwemô “a wished-for arrival or guest”
- Proto-Germanic*wiljakwemaną “to be welcome”
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.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots walcome, Yola welcome, welkome, North Frisian welkimen, Saterland Frisian wilkemen, wäilkeemen, wülkemen, West Frisian wolkom, Alemannic German wol chomne, wolgcheemen, woul chemne, wéllkòmm, Cimbrian bóolkhèmm, Dutch welkom (earlier willecome), German willkommen, German Low German willkamen, Limburgish welkom, wéllekemm, Luxembourgish wëllkomm, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål velkommen, Elfdalian welkumin, Faroese vælkomin, Icelandic velkominn, Norwegian Nynorsk velkomen, Swedish välkommen, 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 Modern Greek καλώς ορίσατε (kalós orísate), South Slavic languages, such as Bulgarian добре́ дошъ́л (dobré došắl), Serbo-Croatian dobrodošao,
and also 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 Romance terms do not derive from a Classical Latin root, as no similar construction in Latin is found to exist, but are instead presumed (considering the ruling elite of the Germanic kingdoms which succeeded the Western Roman Empire) to be the result of a calque from a Germanic language into Proto-Romance (Vulgar Latin; see Latin *bene venūtus, and compare perdōnō and compāniō for similar historical calques).
Derivatives — words built from “welcome”
Phrases & compounds
Want to go deeper? See also “welcome” on Etymonline ↗
3 Original language
Where “welcome” came from before it was English.
The source marks part of this history as uncertain (it uses words like “perhaps” or “possibly”). Read the full etymology above before treating any single origin as certain.
4 Original meaning
What the word meant at the oldest point the record reaches.
Historical meaning — Webster’s 1913
A historical record, labelled as such: some of these senses are dated or have since shifted.
welcome a. [OE. welcome, welcume, wilcume, AS. wilcuma a welcome guest, from wil-, as a prefix, akin to willa will + cuma a comer, fr. cuman to come; hence, properly, one who comes so as to please another's will; cf. Icel. velkominn welcome, G. willkommen. See Will, n., and Come.]
- Received with gladness; admitted willingly to the house, entertainment, or company; as, a welcome visitor.
- Producing gladness; grateful; as, a welcome present; welcome news.
- Free to have or enjoy gratuitously; as, you are welcome to the use of my library.
welcome n.
- Salutation to a newcomer.
- Kind reception of a guest or newcomer; as, we entered the house and found a ready welcome.
welcome v. t. [AS. wilcumian.]
- To salute with kindness, as a newcomer; to receive and entertain hospitably and cheerfully; as, to welcome a visitor; to welcome a new idea.
5 Use it with confidence
Model sentences from the sources, matched to the meaning they show. Read each one aloud, then make your own in the game.
adjectiveMeaning: Whose arrival is a cause of joy; received with gladness; admitted willingly to the house, entertainment, or company.
a welcome visitor
Refugees are welcome in our city!
adjectiveMeaning: Producing gladness.
a welcome turn of events; welcome news
adjectiveMeaning: Followed by to: free to have or enjoy gratuitously.
You are welcome to the use of my library.
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.1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC:
interjectionMeaning: Greeting given upon someone's arrival.
Welcome to the life of Electra Heart!
nounMeaning: Kind reception of a guest or newcomer.
We entered the house and found a ready welcome.
Truth finds an entrance and a welcome too.1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:
nounMeaning: The state of being a welcome guest; a feeling of one's presence and comfort being desired.
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.1992, Dana Stabenow, A Cold Day for Murder, →ISBN, page 42:
nounMeaning: the state of being welcome
don't outstay your welcome
nounMeaning: a greeting or reception
the proposal got a warm welcome
verbMeaning: accept gladly
I welcome your proposals
adjectiveMeaning: giving pleasure or satisfaction or received with pleasure or freely granted
a welcome relief
a welcome guest
Three steps to owning it
- Pick one meaning above and read its model sentence out loud.
- Say who or what the word is about in your own life, then build a sentence around that.
- Check it against the definition: would a careful reader understand exactly that meaning?
6 The mastery game
Play it here, or print it and do it with pen and paper. At the end you will know the meanings, history, origin and original meaning — and you will have used the word yourself.
Say it, then spell it
welcome
/ˈwɛl.kəm/ · wel·come
Say the word out loud three times, slowly. Notice the stressed syllable. When you are ready, hide it and spell it from memory.
Activate Words · Word-mastery worksheet · Name: ______________________ Date: __________
welcome
/ˈwɛl.kəm/ · wel·come · adjective, interjection, noun, verb
Step 1 — Say it and write it
Say “welcome” out loud three times. Then cover the word and write it three times from memory.
Step 2 — Know every meaning
Read each definition. Then write it again in your own words.
Step 3 — Which meaning is it?
“a welcome visitor”
Circle the meaning used.
“a welcome turn of events; welcome news”
Circle the meaning used.
“You are welcome to the use of my library.”
Circle the meaning used.
Step 4 — History and origin
Write the word’s journey back in time (each language and form):
Write three words built from “welcome” and what each means:
Step 5 — Original meaning
The earliest traceable form is Proto-Germanic *wiljakwemaną. What did it mean?
How does that original meaning connect to the meanings today?
Step 6 — Use it yourself
☐ I can explain its meanings ☐ I know its history ☐ I know its original language ☐ I know its original meaning ☐ I can use it confidently
Answer key — welcome
Which meaning, sentence 1: A. Whose arrival is a cause of joy; received with gladness; admitted willingly to the house, entertainment, or company.
Which meaning, sentence 2: A. Producing gladness.
Which meaning, sentence 3: A. Followed by to: free to have or enjoy gratuitously.
Origin: A. Old English (Old English wilcuma)
Journey: English welcome ← Middle English welcome ← Old English wilcuma ← Proto-West Germanic *willjakwemō ← Proto-Germanic *wiljakwemô ← Proto-Germanic *wiljakwemaną
Some derivatives: bewelcome, rewelcome, unwelcome, unwelcomed, unwelcoming, unwelcomingly, unwelcomingness, welcomee
Original meaning: Proto-Germanic *wiljakwemaną — “to be welcome”
Etymology: 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.
Sources: Wiktionary “welcome” (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/welcome#English), CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org; Princeton WordNet 3.0; Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913, public domain) via GCIDE. Worksheet from https://activatewords.com/w/welcome