What's the opposite of a greeting? [duplicate]

Question

Possible Duplicate:
What term is used for the closing of a letter?

You use a greeting when you need to open communication with someone, but is there a word for when you need to close communication?

for example,

note a / indicates a physical action (not just spoken words):

Greetings:  Hey, Hi, /salute, /wave, etc.

   ????  : Bye, See ya, /wave, etc.

Answer 1

There is a host of words for this:

goodbye, farewell, leave-taking, adieu, arrivederci, au revoir, sayonara

cornbread sums them up all in valediction.

Answer 2

In a letter, most people call it "a closing".

In person, most people call it "goodbyes".

"Valediction" is a perfectly good word but rarely used in common speech.

Answer 3

Wikipedia calls it a valediction. I'd just call it a closing.

A valediction (derivation from Latin vale dicere, 'to say farewell'),1 or complimentary close in American English,[2] is an expression used to say farewell, especially a word or phrase used to end a letter or message,[3][4] or the act of saying parting words- whether brief, or extensive.

For the greetings counterpart to valediction, see salutation.

Answer 4

In letters, it's called a complimentary close.

This guy collects them in a database: http://www.clarksco.com/trivia/regards/index.php

You could also use the word farewells — one definition being, a parting salutation