Waving

This article is about the human hand gesture. For waves in the scientific sense, see Wave. For other uses, see Wave (disambiguation).
A man waving
Video of children waving

Waving is a nonverbal communication gesture that consists of the movement of the hand and/or entire arm that people commonly use to greet each other, but it can also be used to say goodbye, acknowledge another's presence, call for silence, or deny someone.[1] The wave gesture is an essential element of human language.[2]

  1. ^ Plessis, Irina Garmashova-Du (January 1998). "Russian Male Gestures for Greeting and Bidding Farewell". Language Matters. 29: 132–178. doi:10.1080/10228199808566136.
  2. ^ Cartmill, Erica A.; Goldin-Meadow, Susan; Matsumoto, David (Ed); Hwang, Hyisung C. (Ed); Frank, Mark G. (Ed), (2016). "Gesture". APA handbook of nonverbal communication. APA handbooks in psychology., (pp. 307–333). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, xxiv, 626 pp.