A valediction (derivation from Latin vale dicere 'to say farewell'), parting phrase, or complimentary close in American English, is an expression used to say farewell, especially a word or phrase used to end a letter or message, or a speech made at a farewell.
Valediction's counterpart is a greeting called a salutation.
A salutation is a greeting used in a letter or other communication. Salutations can be formal or informal. The most common form of salutation in an English letter includes the recipient's given name or title. For each style of salutation there is an accompanying style of complimentary close, known as valediction. Examples of non-written salutations are bowing (which is common in Japan), waving, or addressing somebody by their name. A salutation can be interpreted as a signal in which the receiver of the salutation is being acknowledged, respected or thanked.Another simple but common example of a salutation is a military salute. By saluting another rank, that person is signalling or showing their acknowledgement of the importance or significance of that person and their rank. Some greetings are considered vulgar, others "rude" and others "polite".
Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution in the United States.
The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade point average (GPA) system but other methods of selection may be factored in such as volunteer work, scholastic awards, research, and extra-curricular activity.
Washington's Farewell Address is a letter written by President George Washington as a valedictory to "friends and fellow-citizens" after 20 years of public service to the United States. He wrote it near the end of the second term of his presidency before retiring to his home at Mount Vernon in Virginia.
The letter was first published as The Address of Gen. Washington to the People of America on His Declining the Presidency of the United States in Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser on September 19, 1796, about ten weeks before the presidential electors cast their votes in the 1796 election. In it, he writes about the importance of national unity while warning Americans of the political dangers of regionalism, partisanship, and foreign influence, which they must avoid to remain true to their values. It was almost immediately reprinted in newspapers around the country, and later in pamphlet form.