good morning
Noun pluralgood mornings, good-mornings
Pluralgood mornings, good-mornings
- 1Used as a greeting when one first meets someone in the morning.
"Good morning, Mr. Patel," the doorman said as he held the door open.
Good morning, everyone, and thank you for coming to today's meeting.
Similarhello
Note
Behind the greeting is a wish, something like I wish you a good morning, worn down to its last two words; Middle English already said gud mornynge, and good morrow is its older relative. It marks the first meeting of the day, so people seldom say it twice to someone they have already greeted.
- 2A greeting in which someone says good morning.
She gave us a cheerful good morning and hurried off to class.
He exchanged good mornings with the other dog walkers in the park.
- 3Used jokingly to greet someone who has just woken up, whatever the time of day.
"Good morning!" his roommate called when he finally shuffled out of bed at three in the afternoon.
Well, good morning, sleepyhead. Lunch is almost ready.
Note
The joke works by pretending the day has only just begun for the sleeper: up at the crack of dusk! It is teasing rather than unkind, said to a late riser at noon or later, and it often comes with well or sleepyhead attached.
- 4Said to someone who has only just realized something they could have noticed much earlier.
"Wait, the meeting was yesterday?" "Good morning! We've been telling you all week."
So you've finally figured out he was lying? Well, good morning.
Note
The teasing image of the late riser's greeting moves here from the bed to the mind: someone who has only now noticed the obvious is welcomed as if just waking up. It is sarcastic, and it usually follows the late discovery itself: You're just realizing that now? Good morning!
- 5To greet someone by saying good morning, or simply to say good morning.
She good-morninged the security guards cheerfully on her way into the building.
Nobody on the early train bothers to good-morning anymore; they just stare at their phones.
Note
The verb gains a hyphen and ordinary endings: she good-mornings the neighbors, Sam good-morninged right back. It can take the person greeted as its object or stand alone, as when the orderly in Douglas Adams's The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (1988) good-morninged cheerfully and bustled about the room.
- 6A weightlifting exercise in which one bends forward at the waist and straightens up again while carrying a barbell or resistance band across the shoulders.
Her coach added good mornings to her routine to strengthen her lower back.
Start the good morning with a light barbell until your form is solid.
Note
The movement is a hip hinge: the lifter bends from the hips with a flat back and slightly bent knees, so the hamstrings, glutes and the muscles along the spine do the work. A bar across the shoulders loads the lower back heavily, which is why lifters usually keep the weight light. Coaches count it like any lift, in sets of good mornings.
Less common meaning
- 7Used, more formally, as a farewell when parting from someone in the morning.
"That will be all for now. Good morning," the judge said, rising from the bench.
He touched the brim of his hat at the door and said, "Good morning to you, madam," before leaving.
Note
As a goodbye it is rarer and more formal than as a hello, and it can carry a chill: said at the door, it closes the conversation. Bilbo uses it that way on an unwelcome visitor in Tolkien's The Hobbit (1937), and Gandalf remarks on how many things Good morning can be made to mean.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
From Middle English gud mornynge, from Old English *gōdne morgen ("good morning"), short for an expression such as "I wish you a good morning"; it is simply good + morning. Compare Dutch goedemorgen, German guten Morgen and Swedish god morgon.
From the greeting good morning.