English Explanatory Dictionary

farewell

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A wish of happiness or safety at parting, especially a permanent departure.
  2. A departure; the act of leaving.
adj
  1. Parting, valedictory, final.
intj
  1. Goodbye
verb
  1. To bid farewell or say goodbye.
name
  1. A hamlet in Farewell and Chorley parish, Lichfield district, Staffordshire, England (OS grid ref SK0811).
  2. A surname.

Pronunciation

/fɛəˈwɛl/ /fɛɹˈwɛl/ en-us-farewell.ogg /feːˈwel/ /ˈfeəˈwel/ /ˈfiəˈwel/ /ˈfeɹˈwɛl/ /ˈfɜː(ɹ)ˈwɛl/ /fɑːɹˈwɛl/ /fæɹˈwɛl/

Word forms

farewell farewells farewel farewelling farewelled

Etymology

From Middle English farewel, from fare wel! (and the variants with the personal pronoun "fare ye well" and "fare you well" used in the Renaissance), an imperative expression, possibly further derived from Old English *far wel!, equivalent to fare (“to fare, travel, journey”) + well. Compare Scots farewele, fairweill (“farewell”), Saterland Frisian Foarwäil (“farewell”), West Frisian farwol (“farewell”), German Fahrwol, Fahrwohl, East Frisian forwal, Dutch vaarwel (“farewell (sadly)”), Danish farvel (“farewell”), Norwegian farvel (“farewell”), Swedish farväl (“farewell”), Faroese farvæl (“goodbye”), Icelandic far vel (“farewell”). The extensive list of cognates suggests a postulated ultimate Proto-Germanic phrase of origin, possibly something akin to *far wela.

Synonyms

goodbye adieu vale

Derived words

fareweller unfarewelled Cape Farewell farewell party Farewell Rock Farewell Sermon farewell-summer farewell-to-spring
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