words of thanks; acknowledgements
Formal expression of gratitude, often used in speeches, prefaces, or written acknowledgements. Not casual 'thank you'.
At the graduation ceremony, he gave words of thanks to his advisor.
Rare formal use for an apology; more commonly expressed with 謝罪 or お詫び. May appear in older or very formal written contexts.
論文の最後に謝辞を載せる。
I include acknowledgements at the end of the thesis.
In old documents, 謝辞 is sometimes used to mean an apology.
謝辞 is a speech or words of thanks, while 謝礼 is a monetary or material reward given as thanks, not the words themselves.
Compound of 謝 (thanks, apology) and 辞 (words, speech). The kanji combination naturally yields 'words of thanks' or 'words of apology', with the former being the dominant modern sense.