Saludos

Saludos
 

I notice emails ending with

Saludos,
(Name)

where I'd expect something like (for example)

Un fuerte abrazo,
(Name)

So Saludos can mean "Sincerely,..." at the end, as well as "Greetings" in the beginning?

That's right. It's a salutation.

Well, that's handy to have such a versatile word. I'll have to stop thinking of it as meaning only "Greetings," since using that word to close a piece of correspondence sounds strange to these English ears

@Glen: The verb "saludar" is used for both, saying hello and goodbye. :)

From the DRAE:

Saludar: Verbo transitivo. Dirigir a alguien, al encontrarlo o despedirse de él, palabras corteses, interesándose por su salud o deseándosela, diciendo adiós, hola, etc.

Quizá sea una abreviación de una expresión como,

Déle saludos a su esposa y familia... entretanto quedo a su entera disposición para lo que guste... Atentamente: ...

Pues eso,
Salu2!