adieu

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English adieu, also adeu and adue,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French a Deu, the Anglo-Norman form,^[4][5][3] and Middle French a dieu,^[4] literally "to God".^[5] The phrase is formed from a (“to”), from Latin ad, and Dieu (“God”), from Latin deus,^[4][6][7] and was short for longer farewells such as Old French va a deu (“go with God”) and a deu soiez vos comandez (“be commended to God”), all from the 12th century.^[4] Etymonline and Barnhart give the phrase a dieu (vous) commant (“I commend you to God”).^[8][7] The Latin noun is from Proto-Indo-European *deiwos (“god”), from *dyeu- (“to shine”).^[8] The same phrase gave Old Occitan a deu, Catalan adéu, Portuguese adeus, Italian addio and Spanish adiós.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Goodbye, as a farewell: before 1393, in John Gower's Confessio Amantis.^[4][2] Barnhart dates it to about 1385, in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde,^[7] which survives in a manuscript of before 1425.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In French it was first said to the person left behind, as farewell was said to the one setting out; in English it became a general parting word.^[8][9] Chaucer and Gower each used it a few times.^[10] From about 1425 it appears in to bid adieu; from about 1430 it expressed regret at losing something or at the end of something.^[4] The noun, a leave-taking, is recorded from before 1425, and the plural adieux follows French.^[4][8] Johnson (1755) noted that the word, at first a commendation to God's care, was by then used even to inanimate things.^[11] The English spelling adew was gradually replaced by the French one from the late 14th century.^[7] A verb adieu, to take one's leave, is recorded from before 1500.^[4]

Timeline

• before 1393 – farewell, goodbye.^[4][2]
• before 1425 – noun, a leave-taking, a farewell.^[4]
• c. 1425 – to bid adieu.^[4]
• c. 1430 – expressing regret at the loss or end of something.^[4]
• before 1500 – verb, to say adieu, take one's leave.^[4]
• before 1522 – to go adieu, to depart for good (obsolete by 1575).^[4]

Meanings

Interjection

1. Goodbye; farewell.^[5][12][13]

Noun

1. A farewell; a leave-taking: We made our adieux and drove home.^[5][12][13]

Related words

• adios
• addio
• deity
• goodbye
• farewell

Usage notes

The plural is adieus or adieux.^[5][12] The Shorter Oxford labels the interjection archaic.^[13] Compare the native parting word goodbye, from God be with ye.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press