Ave

"Ave!" or "aue!" is a Latin phrase, used by the Romans as a salutation and greeting, meaning 'hail'. It is the singular imperative form of the verb "avēre", which meant "to be well"; thus, one could translate it literally as "be well!" or "farewell!" [ [http://catholic.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/lookup.pl?stem=aveo&ending= Latin Word Lookup:aveo] ]

The Classical Latin pronunciation of "ave" was IPA2|ˈaweː. In Church Latin it is ideally IPA2|ˈave, and in English it tends to be pronEng|ˈɑːveɪ.

The term was notably used to greet the Caesar or other authorities. Suetonius recorded that gladiators before combat addressed Caesar with the words "Ave Caesar! Morituri te salutant!" ("Hail, Caesar! Those who are about to die salute you!")

The Vulgate version of the Annunciation translates the salute of the angel to Mary, Mother of Jesus as "Ave Maria, gratia plena" ("Hail Mary, full of grace")."Ave Maria" is a Catholic Marian prayer that also has inspired authors of religious music.

Fascist regimes during the 20th century also adopted the greeting. It was used during Nazi Germany in the direct German translation, "heil".

References

See also

*Roman salute