goodbye

A1 Topic:People & Society

Also spelled good-by and good-bye

US /ɡʊdˈbaɪ/ UK /ɡʊdˈbaɪ/ See IPA manual

Freq #717

Meanings

1

interj
Said when leaving someone or ending a conversation.

Goodbye, see you tomorrow!
2

noun
An act of saying farewell.

They said their goodbyes at the airport.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 interj · said when leaving someone... bye adieu farewell

Opposites

hello

Word family

Forms goodbyes

Etymology

From earlier goodby, Godby, Godby'e, Godbwye, God b'w'y, God bwy yee, God buy you, God be wi' you, each a progressively shorter contraction of God be with ye or God be with you. Note the change of God to good by confusion with good morning, good night, etc. Modernly analysed as good + bye.

*ǵʰew- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# goodbye

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** interj, noun
**IPA (US):** /ɡʊdˈbaɪ/
**IPA (UK):** /ɡʊdˈbaɪ/
**Frequency rank:** 717

## Meanings
1. Said when leaving someone or ending a conversation.
2. An act of saying farewell.

## Examples
- Goodbye, see you tomorrow!
- They said their goodbyes at the airport.

## Antonyms
- hello

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *ǵʰew-

## Etymology
From earlier goodby, Godby, Godby'e, Godbwye, God b'w'y, God bwy yee, God buy you, God be wi' you, each a progressively shorter contraction of God be with ye or God be with you. Note the change of God to good by confusion with good morning, good night, etc. Modernly analysed as good + bye.

## AI Etymology
Goodbye comes from earlier goodby, Godby, Godby'e, Godbwye, God b'w'y, God bwy yee, God buy you, God be wi' you, each a progressively shorter contraction of God be with ye or God be with you. Note the change of God to good by confusion with good morning, good night, etc. Modernly analysed as good + bye. The historical chain includes *ǵʰew- (Proto-Indo-European). In present use it covers said when leaving someone or ending a conversation and an act of saying farewell.

## Topics
- People & Society

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