These words all refer to the words or actions offered or exchanged in the first moments of a meeting. Greet can indicate any sign of recognition or acknowledgement; on first glance it might be thought to suggest a warm, friendly or cheerful response: greeting the children with a whoop of delight. But his is far from invariable: greeting him with a stiff, strained silence. Welcome is more specific than greet in indicating that one person receives another into a given situation, either as a newcomer or as one returning to it. Here, the word may more often suggest a warm, official or formal reception: welcoming him back into the household with a passionate embrace; a committee of leading townspeople to welcome the distinguished visitor. But again, the word need not always carry this positive tone: welcoming him each night with sullen stares and a stream of fault-finding remarks.

Hail now has largely been reduced to the special situation of referring to the welcoming of someone as a high honour: a civic reception to hail the world-famous native son. It can refer, in fact, to any ovation, without any notion of welcoming whatsoever. A related use pertains to calling out in order to attract someone’s attention: hailing a taxi; hailing an old friend on the street. Like hail , salute can indicate any act of celebrating or honouring someone: a benefit performance to salute the Oscar winners. It now functions in terms of meeting mainly in the military context, where it refers to the obligatory hand gestures presented in passing between officers and other ranks: reprimanded for having failed to salute an officer. Sometimes one may be saluted with a kiss as a greeting.

In the context of meetings, address may focus on the manner of greeting or the exact terms used: addressing him by his first name. It may also suggest approaching a stranger or speaking to bystanders in general or at random: addressing his question to one of the men in the crowd; addressing her plea for help to everyone in the restaurant. In a wider context, of course, the word refers to formal speech or planned discourse: addressing the meeting with a seconding speech. Accost more clearly restricts itself to the situation of approaching, halting or addressing a stranger, often in an unfriendly or threatening way: accosting one of the villagers and asking for directions: the ruffian who accosted me and demanded my purse. The word has been used euphemistically for a number of kinds of physical or sexual assault: hence, it can often suggest any sort of violent attack: accosted on a dark street and bashed.