Salutatory

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language

·noun The salutatory oration.

II. Salutatory ·noun A place for saluting or greeting; a vestibule; a porch.

III. Salutatory ·adj Containing or expressing salutations; speaking a welcome; greeting;

— applied especially to the oration which introduces the exercises of the Commencements, or similar public exhibitions, in American colleges.