Greeting habits are social customs or rituals to show attention or to confirm friendship or social status between individuals or groups of people meeting each other. Greeting habits are highly culture- and situation-specific and may change within a culture depending on social status. This topic excludes military and ceremonial salutes but includes rituals other than gestures. Custom has a number of meanings: A custom is a common practice among a group of people, especially depending on country, culture, time, and religion. ... A ritual is a formalised, predetermined set of symbolic actions generally performed in a particular environment at a regular, recurring interval. ... Friendship is a human relationship which involves mutual knowledge, esteem, and affection. ... Social status is the standing, the honour or prestige attached to ones position in society. ... Look up Culture in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikinews has news related to this article: Culture and entertainment Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Cultural Development in Antiquity Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Culture and Civilization in Modern Times Classificatory system for cultures and civilizations, by Dr. Sam Vaknin... A salute is a gesture or other action used to indicate respect. ... Military signalmen use hand and body gestures to direct flight operations aboard aircraft carriers. ...

Some epochs and cultures had very elaborate greeting rituals, e.g., greeting of a king.

Secret societies have clandestine greeting rituals that allow members to recognize common membership. A secret society is a social organization that requires its members to conceal certain activities—such as rites of initiation or club ceremonies—from outsiders. ...

Verbal

• Spoken greeting

A spoken greeting (often imprecisely called a verbal greeting) is a customary or ritualised word or phrase used to introduce oneself or to greet someone. ...

Gestures

• Bowing
• Cheek-kissing
• Handshake
• Hand-kissing
• Hat-raising
• Hat-tipping
• Kowtow
• Namaste
• Roman salute
• Waving

Bowing is the act of lowering the head, or sometimes the entire upper body from the waist, as a social gesture. ... Cheek kissing is a ritual or social gesture to indicate friendship, perform a greeting, to confer congratulations, to comfort someone, or to show respect. ... Shaking with the right hand while delivering a certificate with the left. ... Hand-kissing is a ritual of greeting and respect. ... Kowtowing Kowtow, from the Chinese term kòu tóu (Cantonese: kau tàuh) (叩頭), is the act of deep respect shown by kneeling and bowing so low as to touch the head to the ground. ... Namaste or Namaskar (नमस्ते) is an Indian greeting, which is used when both hello and goodbye would be used in English. ... The Oath of the Horatii, by Jacques-Louis David The Roman salute is a gesture in which the arm is held out forward straight, with palms down. ... This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ...

Customs

See also: Salute A salute is a gesture or other action used to indicate respect. ...