farewell

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the act of departing politely

   I disliked long farewells.

2. 2
   noun

   A wish of happiness or safety at parting, especially a permanent departure.

   He bid farewell to all of his fans.

3. 3
   noun

   A departure; the act of leaving.

   See how the morning opes her golden gates, And takes her farewell of the glorious sun.

4. 4
   adj

   Parting, valedictory, final.

   a farewell discourse;  the band's farewell tour

5. 5
   intj

   Goodbye

   He said "Farewell!" and left.

6. 6
   verb

   To bid farewell or say goodbye.

   He farewelled viewers with a warm sign-off after each bulletin: "May your news be good news, and goodnight."

7. 7
   noun

   an acknowledgment or expression of goodwill at parting

8. 8
   name

   A hamlet in Farewell and Chorley parish, Lichfield district, Staffordshire, England (OS grid ref SK0811).

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 (“goodb…