means To greet, honor, or acknowledge someone with a formal gesture, word, or sign of respect.

from From Latin salutare, 'to greet, wish health to,' built on salus, salutis — 'health, safety, well-being.' So the original salute was literally a wish for someone's health (the same salus that survives in 'salutary' and 'salubrious'). It reached English through Old French saluer in the medieval period, and only later narrowed toward the stiff military hand-to-brow gesture we picture today.