What do you call the closing of a letter?

Question

What is the name of the ending of a letter, e.g. "sincerely" or "yours truly?" I guess it would be the antonym of "salutation?"

I am writing a book and have a lot of questions like this (maybe 10 or so). Does anyone have any recommendations as far as a reverse dictionary of thesaurus with antonyms (online, preferably)? Is this newsgroup the one I want to be posting questions like this to?

Thanks,
Brad

Usenet · Accepted Answer

In our last episode,
(Email Removed), the lovely and talented brad
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
[nq:1]What is the name of the ending of a letter, e.g. "sincerely" or "yours truly?" I guess it would be the antonym of "salutation?"[/nq]
It is often called the "complimentary close."
[nq:1]I am writing a book and have a lot of questions like this (maybe 10 or so). Does anyone have ... with antonyms (online, preferably)? Is this newsgroup the one I want to be posting questions like this to? Thanks, Brad [/nq]
Lars Eighner ~~finger for geek code~~ (Email Removed) http://www.io.com/~eighner/ "The very essence of the creative is its novelty, and hence we have no standard by which to judge it." Carl R. Rogers, On Becoming a Person

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]What is the name of the ending of a letter, e.g. "sincerely" or "yours truly?" I guess it would be the antonym of "salutation?"[/nq]
Complimentary close. Occasionally just "close" or the bureaucratic solecism "complimentary closing". (The stock use of "sincerely" as the complimentary close in almost all American business and government correspondence must be one of the greatest abuses of any word in modern English.)
[nq:1]I am writing a book and have a lot of questions like this (maybe 10 or so). Does anyone have ... with antonyms (online, preferably)? Is this newsgroup the one I want to be posting questions like this to? Thanks, Brad[/nq]
There's the OneLook Reverse Dictionary online,
http://www.onelook.com/reverse-dictionary.shtml
Bernstein's Reverse Dictionary and the Oxford Reverse Dictionary are available from the usual sources. The visually inclined and non-native English speakers may find the Reader's Digest Illustrated Reverse Dictionary useful.

Chris Green

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]What is the name of the ending of a letter, e.g. "sincerely" or "yours truly?" I guess it would be the antonym of "salutation?"[/nq]
Valediction
Edward

The reading group's reading group:
http://www.bookgroup.org.uk

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]What is the name of the ending of a letter, e.g. "sincerely" or "yours truly?" I guess it would be the antonym of "salutation?"[/nq]
[nq:1]Valediction Edward The reading group's reading group: http://www.bookgroup.org.uk[/nq]
Here in the U.S., it is "complimentary close." I worked as a typist or secretary for quite a few years, and was taught the names of the parts of a letter before that (English classes and typing class) and have never before heard or seen "valediction."
The Reader's Digest Reverse Dictionary is the only one I've found useful. Although it does sometimes get a bit too British.

Cece

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