[f. WELCOME v.1 + -ING1.] The action of greeting with welcome or of making welcome; a welcome.
1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 2858. Hys doghtyr was þe fyrste þyng þat mette hym and made hym welcomyng.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 255. The king cam with his knichtes alle And maden him glad welcominge.
c. 1400. Laud Troy Bk., 14460. Thei … grete the kyng with wordes curteis; And he … thanked sone her wel-comyng.
c. 1440. Generydes, 392. He came anon withoute taryeng, And curtesly gaue them ther welcomyng.
1525. Ld. Berners, Froiss., II. clx. 177. And to his welcomyng to Dignon, many ladyes and damosels were come thyder to se hym.
1600. J. Pory, trans. Leo’s Africa, VIII. 325. For the welcoming of whom [sc. all strangers] they bring up great store of doues, of chickens, and of such like commodities.
1670. Milton, Hist. Eng., Wks. 1851, V. 24. Elidure … runns to him with open Arms; and after many dear and sincere welcomings, convaies him to the Citty Alclud.
1798. Coleridge, Anc. Mar., VI. xii. But soon there breathed a wind on me…. It mingled strangely with my fears, Yet it felt like a welcoming.
1818. Keats, Endym., I. 377. Where every zephyr-sigh pouts, and endows Her lips with music for the welcoming.
1836. Dickens, Sk. Boz, Tuggs’s at Ramsgate. Nothing was to be heard but talking, laughing, welcoming, and merriment.
1883. Athenæum, 17 Nov., 627/1. The spontaneous welcoming of a given book by an audience that is in size and influence a public.
