# Hello

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Salutation or greeting

For other uses, see [Hello (disambiguation)](/source/Hello_(disambiguation)).

The greeting "Hello" became associated with telephones in the late 19th century. Postcard c. 1905–1915

**Hello** is a [salutation](/source/Salutation) or [greeting](/source/Greeting) in the [English language](/source/English_language). It is first attested in writing from 1826.[1]

## Early uses

*Hello*, with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 January 1826 edition of the *[Norwich Courier](/source/Norwich_Courier)* of [Norwich, Connecticut](/source/Norwich%2C_Connecticut).[2] Another early use was an 1833 American book called *The Sketches and Eccentricities of Col. David Crockett, of West Tennessee*,[3] which was reprinted that same year in *[The London Literary Gazette](/source/Literary_Gazette)*.[4] The word was extensively used in literature by the 1860s.[5]

## Etymology

According to the *[Oxford English Dictionary](/source/Oxford_English_Dictionary)*, *hello* is an alteration of *hallo*, *hollo*,[1] which came from [Old High German](/source/Old_High_German) "*halâ*, *holâ*, emphatic imperative of *halôn*, *holôn* to fetch, used especially in hailing a ferryman".[6] It also connects the development of *hello* to the influence of an earlier form, *holla*, whose origin is in the French *holà* (roughly, 'whoa there!', from French *là* 'there').[7] As in addition to *hello*, *halloo*,[8] *hallo*, *hollo*, *hullo* and (rarely) *hillo* also exist as variants or related words, the word can be spelt using any of all five vowels.[9][10][11]

### Telephone

Before the telephone, verbal greetings often involved a time of day, such as "good morning". When the telephone began connecting people in different [time zones](/source/Time_zone), greetings without time gained popularity.[12]

[Thomas Edison](/source/Thomas_Edison) is credited with popularizing *hullo* as a telephone greeting. In previous decades, *hullo* had been used as an exclamation of surprise (used early on by [Charles Dickens](/source/Charles_Dickens) in 1850)[13] and *halloo* was shouted at ferry boat operators by people who wanted to catch a ride.[14] According to one account, *halloo* was the first word Edison yelled into his strip [phonograph](/source/Phonograph) when he discovered recorded sound in 1877.[13] Shortly after [Alexander Graham Bell](/source/Alexander_Graham_Bell) invented the telephone, he answered calls by saying "*[ahoy](/source/Ahoy_(greeting)) ahoy*", borrowing the term used on ships.[14][15] There is no evidence the greeting caught on.[14] Edison suggested *Hello!* on August 15, 1877, in a letter to the president of [Pittsburgh](/source/Pittsburgh)'s Central District and Printing Telegraph Company, T. B. A. David:

Friend David, I do not think we shall need a call bell as Hello! can be heard 10 to 20 feet away. What you think? Edison – P.S. first cost of sender & receiver to manufacture is only $7.00.[13]

The first name tags to include *Hello* may have been in 1880 at Niagara Falls, which was the site of the first telephone operators convention. By 1889, central telephone exchange operators were known as "[hello-girls](/source/Hello_Girls#History_of_the_term)" because of the association between the greeting and the telephone.[15][16]

A 1918 novel uses the spelling "Halloa" in the context of telephone conversations.[17]

### Hullo, hallo, and other spellings

"Hallo" redirects here. For other uses, see [Hallo (disambiguation)](/source/Hallo_(disambiguation)).

*Hello* might be derived from an older spelling variant, *hullo*, which the American [Merriam-Webster](/source/Merriam-Webster) dictionary describes as a "chiefly British variant of hello",[18] and which was originally used as an exclamation to call attention, an expression of surprise, or a greeting. *Hullo* is found in publications as early as 1803.[19] The word *hullo* is still in use, with the meaning *hello*.[20][21][22][23]

*Hello* is alternatively thought to come from the word *hallo* (1840) via *hollo* (also *holla*, *holloa*, *halloo*, *halloa*).[24] The definition of *hollo* is to shout or an exclamation originally shouted in a [hunt](/source/Fox_hunt) when the quarry was spotted:[25][26]

If I fly, Marcius,/Halloo me like a hare.

— *[Coriolanus](/source/Coriolanus_(play))* (I.viii.7), [William Shakespeare](/source/William_Shakespeare)

[Fowler's](/source/Fowler's) has it that "hallo" is first recorded "as a shout to call attention" in 1864.[27] It is used by [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](/source/Samuel_Taylor_Coleridge)'s famous poem *[The Rime of the Ancient Mariner](/source/The_Rime_of_the_Ancient_Mariner)* written in 1798:

And the good south wind still blew behind, But no sweet bird did follow, Nor any day for food or play

Came to the mariners' hollo!

In many [Germanic languages](/source/Germanic_languages), including German, [Danish](/source/Danish_language), [Norwegian](/source/Norwegian_language), [Dutch](/source/Dutch_language) and [Afrikaans](/source/Afrikaans_language), "*hallo*" directly translates into English as "hello". In the case of Dutch, it was used as early as 1797 in a letter from [Willem Bilderdijk](/source/Willem_Bilderdijk) to his sister-in-law as a remark of astonishment.[28]

*[Webster's Dictionary](/source/Webster's_Dictionary)* from 1913 traces the etymology of *holloa* to the Old English *halow* and suggests: "Perhaps from ah + lo; compare Anglo Saxon ealā."[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

According to the *[American Heritage Dictionary](/source/American_Heritage_Dictionary)*, *hallo* is a modification of the obsolete *holla* (*stop!*), perhaps from Old French *hola* (*ho*, ho! + *la*, there, from Latin *illac*, that way).[29]

## See also

- [Aloha](/source/Aloha)

- [As-salamu alaykum](/source/As-salamu_alaykum)

- [Ciao](/source/Ciao)

- [Kia ora](/source/Kia_ora)

- [Namaste](/source/Namaste)

- [Shalom](/source/Shalom)

- [World Hello Day](/source/World_Hello_Day)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-oed-hello_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-oed-hello_1-1) ["hello"](https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/85687). *[Oxford English Dictionary](/source/Oxford_English_Dictionary)* (online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or [participating institution membership](https://www.oed.com/public/login/loggingin#withyourlibrary) required.)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** . [*Hullo, hillo, holla': The 600-year-old origins of the word 'hello*.](https://www.bbc.co.uk/culture/article/20260113-hello-hiya-aloha-what-our-greetings-reveal) *BBC Culture.*

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** (Anonymous). [*The Sketches and Eccentricities of Col. David Crockett, of West Tennessee*.](https://books.google.com/books?id=RZsOAAAAYAAJ&dq=hello&pg=PA144) New York: J. & J. Harper, 1833. p. 144.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["*The Sketches and Eccentricities of Col. David Crockett, of West Tennessee*".](https://books.google.com/books?id=NVsZAAAAMAAJ&dq=hello&pg=RA1-PA803) *The London Literary Gazette; and Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences, &c.* No. 883: 21 December 1833. p. 803.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [\[1\]](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hello) Origin of the word.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["hallo"](https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/83588). *[Oxford English Dictionary](/source/Oxford_English_Dictionary)* (online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or [participating institution membership](https://www.oed.com/public/login/loggingin#withyourlibrary) required.)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["holla"](https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/87735). *[Oxford English Dictionary](/source/Oxford_English_Dictionary)* (online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or [participating institution membership](https://www.oed.com/public/login/loggingin#withyourlibrary) required.)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Butler, Mann, *[A History of the Commonwealth of Kentucky](https://archive.org/details/historyofcommonw00butl)*, Wilcox, Dickerman & Co., 1834, p. 106.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Definition of HOLLO"](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hollo). *www.merriam-webster.com*. 23 September 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Definition of HULLO"](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hullo). *www.merriam-webster.com*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Definition of HILLO"](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hillo). *www.merriam-webster.com*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** McCulloch, Gretchen (23 July 2019). *Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language*. Riverhead. pp. 201–202. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0735210936](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0735210936).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-koenigsberg_13-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-koenigsberg_13-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-koenigsberg_13-2) Allen Koenigsberg. ["The First "Hello!": Thomas Edison, the Phonograph and the Telephone – Part 2"](https://web.archive.org/web/20061116211033/http://www.collectorcafe.com/article_archive.asp?article=800&id=1507). *Antique Phonograph Magazine*. Vol. VIII, no. 6. Archived from [the original](http://www.collectorcafe.com/article_archive.asp?article=800&id=1507) on 16 November 2006.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_14-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_14-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:0_14-2) Allen Koenigsberg (1999). ["All Things Considered"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090309094200/http://www2.cs.uh.edu/~klong/papers/hello.txt). National Public Radio. Archived from [the original](http://www2.cs.uh.edu/~klong/papers/hello.txt) on 9 March 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2006.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-etymology_15-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-etymology_15-1) ["Online Etymology Dictionary"](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=hello&searchmode=none). *etymonline.com*. Retrieved 28 September 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Grimes, William (5 March 1992). ["Great 'Hello' Mystery Is Solved"](https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/05/garden/great-hello-mystery-is-solved.html). *The New York Times*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0362-4331](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 25 October 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Dehan, Richard (1918). [*That which Hath Wings: A Novel of the Day*](https://books.google.com/books?id=3FAMAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22halloa%22&pg=PA500). G. P. Putnam. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-5332-9337-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-5332-9337-4). {{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#invalid_isbn_date))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-MW_18-0)** ["hullo – Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary"](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hullo). Merriam-webster.com. 25 April 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** [*The Sporting Magazine.*](https://books.google.com/books?id=27sCAAAAYAAJ&dq=hullo&pg=PA12) London (1803). Volume 23, p. 12.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-hullo_20-0)** ["Hullo From Orkney"](http://forum.downsizer.net/archive/hullo-from-orkney__o_t__t_36387.html). Forum.downsizer.net. Retrieved 26 September 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-hullo1_21-0)** Beckley, Piers (23 April 2008). ["Writersroom Blog: Hullo again. Did you miss me?"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/webarchive/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fblogs%2Fwritersroom%2F2008%2F04%2Fhullo_again.shtml). BBC. Retrieved 26 September 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-hullo2_22-0)** ["Ashes: England v Australia – day one as it happened | Andy Bull and Rob Smyth"](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2009/jul/16/ashes-england-australia-live-report). *The Guardian*. London. 16 July 2009. Retrieved 26 September 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-hullo3_23-0)** ["Semi-final clash excites fans"](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/4444713.stm). BBC Sport. 14 April 2005. Retrieved 26 September 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** ["Hello"](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/hello). Merriam-Webster Online. Retrieved 7 February 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** ["Hollo"](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/hollo). Merriam-Webster Online. Retrieved 7 February 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-26)** [*Baily's Magazine of Sports and Pastimes*](https://books.google.com/books?id=iSg_AQAAMAAJ&dq=%22halloa%22&pg=PA127). Vinton. 1907. p. 127.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-27)** *The New Fowler's*, revised third edition by R. W. Burchfield, [Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-19-860263-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-19-860263-4), p. 356.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-28)** Bilderdijk, Willem, [*Liefde en ballingschap. Brieven 1795–1797*](http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/bild002lief01_01/bild002lief01_01_0107.php?q=hallo) (ed. Marita Mathijsen). Uitgeverij De Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam/Antwerp, 1997.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-29)** ["Hello"](http://www.bartelby.com/61/60/H0136000.html). The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. Retrieved 1 September 2006.

## Further reading

- [Hello! Hello!](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-hello-hello/174131285/) an article from 1880 in the *[San Francisco Examiner](/source/San_Francisco_Examiner)* discussing use of the word on the telephone

## External links

Look up ***[hello](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hello)***, ***[hi](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hi)***, ***[hey](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hey)***, or ***[hiya](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hiya)*** in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

- [Hello in more than 800 languages](http://users.elite.net/runner/jennifers/hello1.htm)

- [OED online entry for *hollo*](http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50107205?query_type=word&queryword=hollo&first=1&max_to_show=10&sort_type=alpha&result_place=1&search_id=MJDi-YER2WO-12323&hilite=50107205) (Subscription)

- [Merriam-Webster Dictionary](/source/Merriam-Webster_Dictionary): [hollo](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hollo), [hullo](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hullo)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Hello](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.