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"Salve" is sometimes heard from some people as a greeting.
If I don't misunderstood, "salve" is also used as an honorific salutation, often including the designated person's name, as in "Salve Fulano!" (without a comma), to state a merit or dignity of honor.

Why "salve" is used as a greeting, and why this can have a honorable connotation?

"Salve" é ás vezes ouvido ser dito por algumas pessoas como uma saudação.
Se não estou enganado, "salve" também é usado como uma saudação honorífica, geralmente incluindo o nome da pessoa alvo, como em "Salve Fulano!" (sem vírgula), para declarar um merecimento ou dignidade de honra.

Por que "salve" é usado como uma saudação, e ainda por que pode ter uma conotação honrosa?

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    Reminds me of Salve Regina, mater misericoridae, a Latin hymn to Mary. The Portuguese and Spanish would appear to derive directly from the Latin.
    – tchrist ♦
    Commented Aug 14, 2015 at 21:06
  • Good question. I suddenly realize that I hardly hear anyone use "salve" in Brazil nowadays. It is still used In religious contexts, in some old songs ("Salve a loirinha!", "Salve o Corinthians", in our "National Anthem") but I would be surprised if I heard it from a youth.
    – Centaurus
    Commented Aug 14, 2015 at 22:46
  • @Centaurus Yeah, this appears more often on historical or honorific contexts. Nowadays is practically unused, except if the person is intentionally saying this way.
    – Yuuza
    Commented Aug 14, 2015 at 23:31
  • @Centaurus "Salve" is very commonly used amongst young men who listen to Brazilian Rap, specially in the form "mandar um salve". It is the name of a music by Racionais MCs and it can be found in some informal or slang dictionaries.
    – gmauch
    Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 16:15
  • @gmauch It may be used within a certain group, but generally speaking very few people use it in ordinary conversation. In the region where I live "Brazilian Rap" is somewhat restricted to the "favelas" and take my word for it, I very rarely hear it, An n-gram might help if one could be found in Portuguese.
    – Centaurus
    Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 16:31

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No latim, salve era a forma de saudar a uma pessoa (a várias pessoas dizia-se salvete). Obviamente nos contextos formais ainda há rasgos dessa língua, e salve parece ser uma das expressões que ficou.

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