Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA |
|---|---|
| salutacionar | /salutaθjonaɾ/ (Spain, from spelling rules) /salutasjonaɾ/ (Latin America, from spelling rules) |
| hacer una salutación | /aθeɾ una salutaθjon/ (Spain, from spelling rules) /aseɾ una salutasjon/ (Latin America, from spelling rules) |
The phrase is used to describe the act of making a gesture.
Which one should you use?
salutacionar is the verb form, while hacer una salutación is a periphrastic construction.
How do you pronounce it?
/salutaθjonaɾ/
When do people say it?
When saluting or greeting someone, common expressions include Buenos días to mean "good day" for morning greetings, Buenas tardes for "good afternoon" during the afternoon and early evening and Buenas noches which translates to "good evening" or "good night" for the evening or night. For casual situations, you can use the informal Hola amigo/amiga for "hi friend", the informal ¿Qué tal? for "what's up?", the informal ¿Cómo estás? for "how are you?" or the shortened informal version ¡Buenas! which replaces the full time-of-day greetings. To say goodbye, you can use ¡Hasta luego! which means "See you later!"
Did you know?
- The word salutación shares a root with the English word 'salute', as both originate from the Latin 'salus', meaning 'health' or 'well-being'.
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, a physical 'salute' or greeting often involves a kiss on the cheek or a handshake, rather than just a verbal salutación.
- The Spanish word saludo is a cognitive relative of the English word 'salute', but it is used far more frequently in daily conversation than the English counterpart.
Example sentences for Spanish are not verified yet.
Example conversation
Two military students are practicing for a ceremony.
- ElenaAlejandro, ¿sabes cómo salutacionar correctamente?Alejandro, do you know how to salute correctly?
- AlejandroSí, Elena, mira cómo lo hago.Yes, Elena, look at how I do it.
- ElenaTu mano está un poco baja.Your hand is a little low.
- AlejandroTienes razón, voy a intentar salutacionar otra vez.You are right, I will try to salute again.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “salute” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries hacer, salutación, una, CC BY-SA 4.0.
