The word hello has an interesting history—it connects back to the same roots as healthy and whole.

Origins of hello

• The earliest forms of hello show up in the early 1800s in English. Before that, people used greetings like hail, good morrow, or how do ye do.
• Hello originally came from older Germanic exclamations like hallo, hollo, or hullo, which were used to attract attention (like shouting “hey!”).
• These in turn come from Middle English hallow, hollo, linked to Old High German halâ or holâ (“to fetch” or “to call”).

Connection to health and whole

• The root is the Proto-Germanic hailaz, meaning “whole, uninjured, of good omen.”
• From this we get:
  • Old English hāl = “whole, unhurt, healthy” → Modern whole and hale.
  • Old English hǣl = “health, prosperity, good luck” → Modern health.
  • Old English hāl wes þū = “be whole/healthy” → which evolved into “hail!” as a greeting or toast.

The shift

• So originally, greetings like hail! literally meant “be whole, be well.”
• Hello branched off from these attention-calling cries related to hail and hollo, and over time became the standard greeting.
• The deeper root across hello, hail, whole, health is the Proto-Indo-European kailo-, meaning “whole, uninjured, of good omen.”

✨ Hello is historically related to healthy and whole. Saying “hello” is ultimately wishing someone wholeness and well-being.