adiós

Forms

adiós m (plural adioses)^[1] The spelling a Dios competed with adiós until well into the 19th century, and the Academy kept it as its main form until 1956; the manuscript of the Cancionero de Baena has adyós.^[2] Popular forms include adió in Cuba, New Mexico, Costa Rica and Ecuador, adiú in Tabasco, adiá and edió in New Mexico and aó in Costa Rica.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish a (“to”) + Dios (“God”), an ellipsis of farewell formulas such as a Dios seades (“(may you) be with God”), found about 1400 in the Glosario del Escorial.^[3] The TDHLE names a Dios vayáis and a Dios quedad as the full phrases, and Etymonline a dios vos acomiendo (“I commend you to God”).^[2][4] Wiktionary compares Medieval Latin ad Deum (“to God”).^[1] The preposition a continues Latin ad, and Dios continues deus (“god”).^[5][3]

The same leave-taking is Portuguese adeus, Galician adeus, Catalan adeu, Occitan adieu, French adieu and Italian addio.^[1][6] Catalan also has adéu-siau, with the verb kept.^[3] For the Portuguese word, Machado and Nascentes start from phrases such as entrego-te a Deus (“I hand you over to God”).^[7][8]

The English word adios, first recorded in American English in 1837, is from Spanish.^[4] Wiktionary also traces Dutch adjuus to it, and through Low German also German tschüss.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DCECH dates it to the beginning of the 15th century, in the Cancionero de Baena.^[3] There F. Pérez de Guzmán (before 1424) writes „Adyós, flor de azuzena” “farewell, lily flower”.^[2][9] About 1440 Rodríguez de la Cámara uses it to take leave of things: „Adiós, real esplandor” “farewell, royal splendour”.^[2] The spelling adiós first appears in the Cancionero General of 1511.^[2] Earlier CDH hits such as „teme adios” in the Picatrix of 1256 are a Dios “to God”, not the farewell.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Cervantes, Calderón and Solís still wrote a Dios: „y a Dios, que ya viene el alua” “and goodbye, for dawn is coming”, says a boy in the Quijote (1615).^[2] Autoridades (1732) entered it under Dios as an adverbial phrase for taking courteous leave; the Academy called it an adverbial phrase until 1791, an expression from 1803 and an interjection from 1884.^[2]

From the 15th century it is also addressed to things or places one leaves or gives up, and colloquial Spanish uses it ironically for something broken or lost;^[2] decir adiós “to say goodbye”, also “to give up”, is recorded from 1842.^[2] The DLE adds a greeting between two people who pass without stopping, and colloquial uses expressing disappointment or surprise.^[11] In Paraguay and Uruguay it is also used as a greeting.^[12] In Ecuador, according to Toscano (1953), it was used only for a final or long parting, while in Spain it served for any leave-taking.^[2] In the Dominican Republic it expresses disbelief or reproach.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – the Glosario del Escorial has a Dios seades.^[3]
• before 1424 – F. Pérez de Guzmán's Adyós, flor de azuzena in the Cancionero de Baena.^[2]
• c. 1440 – Rodríguez de la Cámara bids farewell to things.^[2]
• 1511 – the spelling adiós in the Cancionero General.^[2]
• 1602 – first record from the Americas, in Mexico.^[14]
• 1615 – the Quijote has a Dios, que ya viene el alua.^[2]
• 1648 – Thomas Gage records the cry A dios of departing ships at Cádiz.^[15]
• 1732 – Autoridades enters A Dios under Dios.^[2]
• 1837 – English adios is first recorded, in America.^[4]
• 1884 – the Academy calls it an interjection.^[2]
• 1956 – the Academy stops preferring the spelling a Dios.^[2]

Meanings

Interjection

1. goodbye, farewell.^[11][1]
2. Used as a greeting by two people who pass each other without stopping to talk.^[11]
3. (colloquial) Expressing disappointment, annoyance or surprise: ¡Adiós, se me ha olvidado la cartera!^[11][16]
4. (colloquial, rare) Used as a greeting by someone arriving, or to someone who arrives.^[11]
5. (Paraguay, Uruguay) Hello.^[12]

Noun

1. A leave-taking at the end of a conversation or letter.^[11][1]
2. decir adiós: to say goodbye; to give something up: Ya puedes decirle adiós a ese dinero.^[11][2]

Related words

• Dios
• Portuguese adeus
• French adieu

Usage notes

The plural of the noun is adioses.^[1] Y adiós, muy buenas is colloquial for “and that's that”.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Real Academia Española (2021–), Tesoro de los diccionarios históricos de la lengua española (TDHLE): Diccionario histórico (1933–1936), its unpublished slips, Diccionario histórico (1960–1996), DHECan, DHECR, DHEVen, https://www.rae.es/tdhle, p. s.v. adiós
3. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 498
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 2239
6. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 99
7. ^ Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. 99
8. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. adeus
9. ^ Alonso Pedraz, Martín (1986), Diccionario medieval español: desde las Glosas Emilianenses y Silenses (s. X) hasta el siglo XV, 2 vols., Salamanca: Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, p. 138
10. ^ Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. adiós
11. ^ a b c d e f g h Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. adiós
12. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. adiós
13. ^ Academia Dominicana de la Lengua; Instituto Guzmán Ariza de Lexicografía (2024), Diccionario del español dominicano, 2nd ed., online at https://ded.igalex.org, p. s.v. adiós
14. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. adiós
15. ^ Grupo IATEXT, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, AMERLEX: corpus of americanisms in early texts on the Americas (online database), p. s.v. adiós
16. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. adiós