welcome

Formswelcomes, welcoming, welcomed

Formswelcomer, welcomest

Pluralwelcomes

1. 1
   greetverbtransitive

   To greet someone on their arrival, or affirm that arrival, especially by saying “Welcome!”.

   Staff welcome guests in the lobby with a cold drink.

   The mayor welcomed the delegates as they stepped off the plane.

   UsageTakes the guest directly, often with to: welcome someone to the team. Families also welcome a new baby.

   Similargreet, receive

   Note

   Family news has made it a standard verb for births. Ben Morse's 2025 report says Jason and Kylie Kelce had "already welcomed Wyatt, Elliotte and Bennett to the family." In that use, the arrival being greeted is a baby's. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Ben Morse wrote the cited report in 2025; it was published on April 2. abc17news.com
   • The report contains the exact quoted wording about Jason and Kylie Kelce's children. abc17news.com
2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To accept or receive something willingly or gladly, regarding it as pleasing or desirable.

   Farmers welcome the rain after a dry summer.

   He welcomed the news of her promotion with obvious delight.

   UsageCommon objects are news, ideas and chances: welcome the chance to rest, welcome your suggestions.

   Similarembrace, appreciate, greet, accept

   Oppositeresent, reject

   Note

   Institutions use this sense to take a public position. A prosecution service welcomes a jailing, and a foreign ministry spokesman welcomes cooperation. In that register it signals official approval of a decision, outcome or offer. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • A prosecution service publicly welcomes a prison sentence. gov.za
   • A foreign ministry spokesperson publicly welcomes cooperation. th.china-embassy.gov.cn
3. 3
   words of greetinginterjection

   Used as a friendly greeting to someone arriving at a place or joining a group.

   Welcome aboard. Please find your seats and buckle up.

   Welcome to the conference; registration is just to your left.

   UsageUse to before a place: welcome to London (not incorrect: welcome in London); but welcome home, welcome back.

   Note

   The greeting is older than it looks. Old English already had wilcume as an exclamation, beside the noun wilcuma, a wished-for guest. Used on its own, it simply marks the moment of arrival. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Old English had wilcume as an interjection. en.wiktionary.org
   • Old English wilcuma was a noun meaning a wished-for guest. en.wiktionary.org
4. 4
   adjective

   Received with gladness; whose arrival brings joy, and willingly admitted to a home, gathering, or company.

   Visitors are welcome at the gallery every afternoon.

   She made the new neighbors feel welcome from their first day on the street.

   UsageCommon in make someone feel welcome and you're always welcome (at our house).

   Similaraccepted, wanted

   Oppositeunwelcome, unwanted

   Note

   Behind this sense is a person, not a feeling. Old English wilcuma meant "a wished-for guest", from Germanic *wiljakwemô, "a wished-for arrival or guest". That is why it sits most naturally on people and their coming: a welcome visitor, or "Heaven's welcome guest" in William Cowper's The Progress of Error (1782). Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • Old English wilcuma meant a wished-for guest. en.wiktionary.org
   • Wilcuma descends from reconstructed Proto-Germanic *wiljakwemô, meaning a wished-for arrival or guest. en.wiktionary.org
   • William Cowper's The Progress of Error contains the quoted phrase, with modernized spelling of Heaven's. eighteenthcenturypoetry.org
   • The Progress of Error was first published in 1782, in Cowper's Poems. eighteenthcenturypoetry.org
5. 5
   adjective

   Producing gladness or relief; pleasing to receive, see, or experience.

   The rain was a welcome relief after weeks of drought.

   His calm voice was welcome in a room full of shouting.

   UsageOften a welcome + noun: a welcome relief, a welcome change, a welcome surprise.

   Similarpleasant, pleasing, appreciated, gratifying

   Oppositeunwelcome, unpleasant, unwanted

6. 6
   adjective

   Freely allowed or invited to have, use, or enjoy something, or to do something; used with 'to'.

   You're welcome to the leftovers in the fridge.

   Members are welcome to bring one guest to each event.

   UsageUse you're welcome to with a verb (stay) or a noun (the leftovers). Either pattern can sound friendly or indifferent, depending on tone.

   Similarfree

   Note

   A construction with a shrug built into it. Be welcome to followed by a noun phrase grants permission rather than expressing pleasure. You are welcome to the use of my library is a generous offer. In G. A. Birmingham's Gossamer (1915), a man says his servant is welcome to as many votes as he can get, and he means he hardly cares. Tone decides which reading is meant. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • Gossamer was written by G. A. Birmingham. en.wikisource.org
   • Gossamer was first published in 1915. openlibrary.org
   • A male character says that his servant is welcome to as many votes as he can get; this occurs in the narrator's reflections. gutenberg.org
   • The context expresses indifference about who exercises political power. gutenberg.org
7. 7
   the greetingnouncountable

   An instance or manner of greeting someone on arrival, whether in words or in a kind or hospitable reception.

   The villagers offered the volunteers a generous welcome.

   Her warm welcome put the nervous interns at ease right away.

   UsageUsually with a warmth word, a warm welcome; you give or receive one.

   Similarreception, greeting

   Oppositefarewell

   Note

   Here the noun measures hospitality rather than naming a ceremony, so it takes adjectives of warmth and readiness: a ready welcome, or "the warmest welcome at an inn" in William Shenstone's lines written at an inn at Henley. Robert South's sermon, in which truth finds "both an entrance and a welcome too," shows it reaching beyond guests to ideas. The same noun can also name the greeting itself, warm or not, as in a speech of welcome. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

   • William Shenstone's poem Written at an Inn at Henley contains the words “the warmest welcome at an inn”. upload.wikimedia.org
   • South's wording is “truth is sure to find both an entrance and a welcome too”. ccel.org

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