salute!
The Italian way to say "bless you" is salute!
You use salute! as an interjection to say "bless you" to someone who has just sneezed.
Meaning: said to somebody who has sneezed (intj)
What does it mean word for word?
The word salute literally means "health" in Italian.
When do people say it?
When someone says salute! to you after you sneeze, the standard way to respond is to say Grazie.
Did you know?
- There is a playful tradition where if someone sneezes three times, the response shifts from salute! to a joke about the person being 'in love'.
- While salute! is the most common response to a sneeze, it is also the standard way to say 'Cheers!' when clinking glasses during a toast.
- The word salute is the root of the English word 'salutation', though in Italian it refers to health rather than just a greeting.
Examples in context
- "Etciù!" "Salute!" "Grazie.""Achoo!" "Bless you!" "Thanks."This example shows a typical exchange of a sneeze, the phrase salute! and the response Grazie.Tatoeba #2534857 by Guybrush88, translation #2447438 by MethodGT
- Salute!Bless you!This example shows the standalone use of salute!Tatoeba #991588 by riccioberto, translation #434328 by lukaszpp
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Sofia and Alessandro are sitting in a quiet cafe.
- SofiaEtciù!Achoo!
- AlessandroSalute!Bless you!
- SofiaGrazie, Alessandro.Thank you, Alessandro.
- AlessandroPrego, Sofia.You're welcome, Sofia.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “bless you” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
