...I haven't been able to find a meaning (NOT usage) and origin of the word Hello. Webster's New World Dictionary doesn't even give an origin, and our two volume Webster's Universal Unabridged Dictionary (Copyright 1937) says: Hello (interj.) a colloquial form of hallo.
Hallo (interj.) [AS. ea lo!, ealo! AH LO!] an exclaimation
used as a salutation or to attract attention.
Alternate spellings: Halloa, hilloa, holloa, hulloa, hallow, hallo, hello, hillo, hollo, hullo.
Ah lo! could be the origin, but it doesn't fit with the origins of the other greeting words.
[Welcome] comes from ["It is WELL (or good) that you have COME!"] ["You are WELL COME!"]
[Good-by] or [Goodbye] comes from ["GOD BE with you!"]
So I was theorizing that Hello could have originated like:
[Hello] comes from [Hallo] and can be spelled [Hallow] as in ["HALLOWED (Holy, sacred) is our meeting!"]
Got any info? Thx. :)