From Middle English welcome, wolcume, wulcume, wilcume, from Old English wilcuma “a wished-for guest”; compare also wilcume ("welcome!"), from Proto-West Germanic *willjakwemō, from Proto-Germanic *wiljakwemô, possibly from *wiljakwemaną, equivalent to .

The verb is from Middle English welcomen, wolcumen, wilcumen, from Old English wellcumian, wylcumian, wilcumian.

Similar constructions are found in Romance languages, such as Italian benvenuto, Spanish bienvenido, French bienvenu, Catalan benvingut, Portuguese bem-vindo and Romanian bun venit, meaning “[may you have fared] well [in] coming [here]”. These do not derive from a Classical Latin root, as no similar construction in Latin is found to exist, but are instead presumed to be the result of a calque from, considering the ruling elite of the Germanic kingdoms which succeeded the Western Roman Empire, a Germanic language into Proto-Romance (Vulgar Latin; see Latin *bene venūtus, and compare perdōnō and compāniō for similar historical calques).

• (RP, America, Canada) enPR: wĕlʹkəm, IPA: /ˈwɛlkəm/

welcome

1. Whose arrival is a cause of joy; received with gladness; admitted willingly to the house, entertainment, or company.

   a welcome visitor

   Refugees welcome to education!

   • 1782, William Cowper, The Progress of Error:

     When the glad soul is made Heaven's welcome guest.

2. Producing gladness.

   a welcome present;  welcome news

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC ↗:

     “A very welcome, kind, useful present, that means to the parish. By the way, Hopkins, let this go no further. We don't want the tale running round that a rich person has arrived. Churchill, my dear fellow, we have such greedy sharks, and wolves in lamb's clothing.  […] ”

3. Free to have or enjoy gratuitously.

   You are welcome to the use of my library.

   • 1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC ↗:

     As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish, but I would not go out of my way to protest against it. My servant is, so far as I am concerned, welcome to as many votes as he can get. I would very gladly make mine over to him if I could.

• French: bienvenu
• German: willkommen
• Italian: benvenuto
• Portuguese: bem-vindo
• Russian: жела́нный
• Spanish: bienvenido, agradable

• Italian: libero

1. Greeting given upon someone's arrival.
2. (nonstandard, especially, Southern US) Ellipsis of you're welcome

• French: bienvenue
• German: willkommen
• Italian: benvenuto!, benvenuta!, benvenuti!, benvenute!, salve
• Portuguese: bem-vindo!, bem-vinda!, bem-vindos!, bem-vindas!
• Russian: добро́ пожа́ловать
• Spanish: bienvenido, bienvenida, bienvenidos

welcome (plural welcomes)

1. The act of greeting someone’s arrival, especially by saying "Welcome!"; reception.
2. The utterance of such a greeting.
3. Kind reception of a guest or newcomer.

   We entered the house and found a ready welcome.

   • 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:

     Truth finds an entrance and a welcome too.

   • 1735, William Shenstone, Written at an inn at Henley:

     the warmest welcome at an inn

4. The state of being a welcome guest.

• French: bienvenue
• German: Begrüßung, Empfang
• Italian: accoglienza
• Portuguese: recepção
• Russian: приём
• Spanish: acogida, bienvenida

• French: bienvenue
• German: Herzlich willkommen Begrüßung
• Italian: benvenuto
• Portuguese: boas-vindas
• Russian: приве́тствие
• Spanish: bienvenida

welcome (welcomes, present participle welcoming; simple past and past participle welcomed)

1. To affirm or greet the arrival of someone, especially by saying "Welcome!".
   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC ↗:

     But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, […] . By the time we reached the house we were thanking our stars she had come. Mrs. Cooke came out from under the port-cochere to welcome her.

2. To accept something willingly or gladly.

   We welcome suggestions for improvement.

   • 2019, [https://web.archive.org/web/20190311070055/https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/south-korea-proposes-rain-project-with-china-to-cut-pollution/4819207.html VOA Learning English] (public domain)

     Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang welcomed cooperation with South Korea.

• French: accueillir, souhaiter la bienvenue
• German: begrüßen, willkommen heißen, bewillkommnen (formal, dated)
• Italian: accogliere, dare il benvenuto
• Portuguese: dar as boas-vindas a, receber, acolher
• Russian: приве́тствовать
• Spanish: dar la bienvenida

• German: begrüßen, gutheißen
• Italian: accettare, accogliere, gradire
• Portuguese: aceitar
• Russian: приве́тствовать
• Spanish: bienvenir

1. Surname.