WORDS THAT PRAY
What prayer do you say when you say goodbye?
Goodbye is what is left of “God be with ye”. Romanian adio, French adieu and Spanish adiós carry a parallel wish: at parting, leave the other person with God. Pick the word you part with and see what is inside it.
What do you say at parting?
Leaves them with God
goodbye
English
“Goodbye” is what is left of “God be with ye”.
English, late 14th century
God be with yeGod be with you
- GOD BE WITH YElate 14th c.ATTESTED FORM
- GODBWYE1570sATTESTED FORM
- GOODBYE1590sATTESTED FORM
A separate English road from adieu and adiós. The wish was squeezed into one word, and God turned into good under the influence of good day.
ETYMONLINE · AMERICAN HERITAGE
Leaves them with God
adieu
French
“Adieu” is the start of a sentence: “to God I commend you”.
Old French
a Dieuto Godvos comantI commend you
still spokenunderstood
- A DIEU VOS COMANTthe full formulaEXPLANATORY FORMULA
- À DIEUhow Larousse breaks the wordEXPLANATORY FORMULA
- ADIEUtoday's wordATTESTED FORM
Larousse breaks the word into à and Dieu; Etymonline gives it as a shortening of old phrases such as “a dieu (vous) commant”. Littré notes that to someone you will see again soon you say “je ne vous dis pas adieu”.
LAROUSSE · ETYMONLINE · PFEIFER · LITTRÉ
Leaves them with God
adiós
Spanish
“Adiós” is “a Dios” written as one word: “to God”.
Spanish
a Diosto God
- A DIOSthe formulaEXPLANATORY FORMULA
- ADIÓStoday's wordATTESTED FORM
The Spanish Academy's dictionary says only this: from a Dios. The source gives no further link.
RAE
Neither
ciao
Italian
There is no God in “ciao”: there is the word “slave”.
Venetian
sono vostroI am yours-ciavoslave
still spokenunderstood
- S-CIAVOthe Venetian wordATTESTED FORM
- CIAOtoday's greetingATTESTED FORM
Treccani gives it as a word of Venetian origin, from s-ciao, s-ciavo: properly “(sono vostro) schiavo”.
TRECCANI
Leaves them with God DISPUTED ROAD
tschüss
German
“Tschüss” also leads to “to God”, by a disputed road.
- ADIEU / ADIÓSFrench or SpanishDISPUTED HYPOTHESES
- ADJÜS · ATSCHÜSnorth German forms, 18th c.ATTESTED FORMS
- TSCHÜSSthe everyday farewellATTESTED FORM
Duden derives it probably from Spanish adiós, through Low German adjüs. Pfeifer traces it to French adieu, borrowed in the 17th century, with a possible touch (vielleicht) of adiós.
DUDEN · PFEIFER
Looks to the next meeting
au revoir
French
“Au revoir” says “until we meet again”.
French
au revoiruntil we meet again
The French formula on which Romanian calqued its own farewell, la revedere.
DN
Leaves them with God
addio
Italian
“Addio” says “to God”; “I commend you” is understood.
Italian
a Dioto Godti raccomandoI commend you
still spokenunderstood
- A DIOthe phrasePHRASE
- ADDIOthe farewell of definitive partingATTESTED FORM
Treccani derives it from the phrase a Dio, with “ti raccomando” understood, and describes it as the greeting for a definitive parting.
TRECCANI
Leaves them with God
adio
Romanian
Inside “adio” is “to God”.
from Italian addio
a Dioto Godti raccomandoI commend you
from Old French, through adieu
a Dieuto Godvos comantI commend you
still spokenunderstood
- ADDIO · ADIEUthe two sourcesATTESTED FORMS
- ADIOthe dictionaries give no year and no authorUNDATED LOAN
The Romanian dictionary DEX defines it as “Rămas bun (pentru totdeauna), rămâi cu bine”, “farewell (forever), stay well”, and gives two sources: Italian addio and French adieu.
DEX · DN
Looks to the next meeting
la revedere
Romanian
“La revedere” is no prayer: it is the wish to meet again.
a calque on French
au revoiruntil we meet again
- AU REVOIRthe French modelATTESTED FORM
- LA REVEDEREthe Romanian calqueCALQUE
A Romanian parting formula, a calque on French (au) revoir. The lexicographer Scriban explains it as the wish to see the other person again.
DEX · DN · SCRIBAN
Neither
pa
Romanian
The history of “pa” holds neither God nor a next meeting.
DEX gives it as a greeting used mostly at parting, by children and with children or, familiarly, between adults, and compares it with German pa and Hungarian pá. A slang dictionary also records pa și pu, as a joke, and pa și pusi.
DEX · ARGOU
Looks to the next meeting
do svidaniya
Russian
“Do svidaniya” says “until next time”.
Russian
do svidaniyauntil next time
English Wiktionary glosses it literally as “until next time” and compares it with au revoir.
WIKTIONARY
The arrows sum up etymological relations; they do not show letter-by-letter changes.
What the dictionaries say
Where does the word “adio” come from?
Open the Romanian dictionary at adio and you find two things: the sense of the parting that may be forever, and two sources, Italian and French.
adio “Rămas bun (pentru totdeauna), rămâi cu bine” — “Farewell (forever), stay well.”
The etymology, in the dictionary's words: “Din it. addio, fr. adieu” — from Italian and French.
Another dictionary, DN, takes the Italian word apart: ad, “to”, and Dio, “God”.
Adio in three poems
The literary dictionary (DLRLC) illustrates the sense with lines from three poets.
Deci cânturilor mele zic
Adio tuturora.
Mihai Eminescu, “S-a dus amorul”, Convorbiri literare, 1883
TEXT CHECKED IN THE EDITION the poem on Wikisource
Și soarele o rază de-adio îmi trimise
Alexandru Macedonski, “Noaptea de noiembrie”, Excelsior, 1895
TEXT CHECKED IN THE EDITION the poem on Wikisource
Întorc acum asupra-ți privirea-mi dureroasă,
Ca cel din urmă-adio, la tot ce am pierdut.
Grigore Alexandrescu, “Încă o zi”, 1847
TEXT CHECKED IN THE EDITION the page, in the 1863 edition
The academic dictionary (MDA2) gives as its attestation a page in Constantin Negruzzi. There, in the story “O alergare de cai” (“A Horse Race”), a lady drives off in her carriage:
„Ridicând storile îmi zâmbi, făcându-mi un semn de adio cu buchetul de flori ce avea în mână.” — “Raising the blinds she smiled at me, waving adio with the bunch of flowers in her hand.”
Scrierile lui Constantin Negruzzi, vol. I, “Păcatele tinerețelor”, p. 43, in today's spelling
TEXT CHECKED IN THE EDITION the page, in the scanned edition
The Song of Roland
Roland never says “adieu”. But he speaks the language it could grow from.
In the 4,002 verses of the Bédier edition, the modern spelling “adieu” occurs zero times. That is to be expected in a medieval text. What the poem does hold is the verbal gesture behind the formula: cumander or comant à Deu — commending someone to God.
0 occurrences of the exact form “adieu” in the Bédier edition.
Counted on the Bédier edition, in the Wikisource transcription. The Oxford manuscript keeps an Anglo-Norman French of 1129–1165, so its spelling cannot be compared letter by letter with modern French.
v. 2389
Sun destre guant a Deu en puroffrit.
He held out his right glove to God.
The dying Roland, the gesture of self-commendation.
v. 3694
Francs les cumandent a Deu e a ses nuns.
The Franks commit them to God and his Names.
The three lords, in white coffins, at Blaye.
v. 2253
Hoi te cumant al Glorius celeste.
I commend you now to the Glorious One of heaven.
Roland, over the dying archbishop.
The renderings follow Bédier's modern version; the English rendering: Marius Comper.
What did “adieu” mean at first?
a Dieu vos comant
“I commend you to God” — Old French. Larousse breaks the modern word into à and Dieu; Etymonline gives it as a shortening of phrases such as a dieu (vous) commant.
Pfeifer, the German etymologist, gives the chain on his own account: a dieu, a deu, after Latin ad Deum, glossed “(I commend you) to God”.
The map of farewell
Two ways of leaving
Some of Europe's farewells leave the other person with God. Others look to the next meeting. A few do neither.
Leave them with God
Look to the next meeting
- au revoir“until we meet again”DN
- la revedere“until we meet again”DEX · DN · SCRIBAN
- do svidaniya“until next time”WIKTIONARY
Pick a word to open it above, with its formula.
Is “tschüss” related to “adiós”?
What is certain: it belongs to the family of farewells that arrive, in the last instance, at the idea of “to God”.
What is disputed: the immediate road. Duden derives it probably from Spanish adiós, through Low German adjüs; Pfeifer traces it to French adieu, borrowed in the 17th century, with a possible touch (vielleicht) of adiós.
Do “adio” and “la revedere” say the same thing?
No. One commends, the other looks to the next meeting.
“Așadar, la revedere luni” — “So, goodbye until Monday.”
I. L. Caragiale to Paul Zarifopol, Berlin, 4 May 1905
OPERE, VII, 1942, P. 4
When French was pouring in
The bonjuriști and the mockery
No dictionary says who brought adio into Romanian, or in which year — what follows is the historical context of French influence, not the proven road of the word. After 1830, the young men back from Paris were laughed at for the way they greeted.
- DEX
- “Nume dat după 1830-1840 tinerilor români progresiști care studiaseră în Franța” — the name given after 1830–1840 to young progressives back from France.
- CADE
- “Nume de batjocură...” — a mocking name for those who greeted with “bonjur” instead of “bună ziua”; also called “duelgii” and “pantalonari”.
The mockery, in a single quote
„Decât un bonjurist c-o mână de învățătură, mai bine un țăran cu un car de minte.”
Ion Creangă, “Ion Roată și Vodă Cuza”, 1883. Prince Cuza to the peasant Ion Roată: “Better a peasant with a cartload of sense than a bonjurist with a handful of schooling.”
ALMANAHUL „ROMÂNIA JUNĂ”, 1883, P. 32
That was the greeting that kisses — sărut-mâna. This is the farewell that prays. sărut-mâna
Sources
Dictionaries first, then texts and studies. Every risky claim points at its source.
| C01 | Adio: the forever farewell; Italian and French etymology. | DEX '09/'98 |
|---|---|---|
| C02 | Addio: ad, “to”, and Dio, “God”. | DN |
| C03 | Attested in Negruzzi, Scrierile, I, p. 43: „un semn de adio” (“O alergare de cai”), read in the scanned edition. | MDA2, the Negruzzi edition |
| C04 | The long-parting sense; lines from Eminescu, Macedonski and Alexandrescu (“Încă o zi”, 1863 edition, p. 72). | DLRLC, the editions |
| C05 | Adieu: from à and Dieu; the shortening of “a Dieu vos comant”. | Larousse, Etymonline |
| C06 | Tschüss: adjüs and atschüs lead toward tschüss; the immediate road disputed. | Pfeifer (DWDS), Duden |
| C07 | Goodbye: God be with ye → godbwye (1570s) → goodbye (1590s); God turned into good after good day. | Etymonline, American Heritage |
| C08 | Adiós: from a Dios, “to God”. | RAE |
| C09 | “Je ne vous dis pas adieu” is said, familiarly, to someone you expect to see again soon. | Littré |
| C10 | La revedere, a calque on (au) revoir; “Așadar, la revedere luni” (Caragiale to Zarifopol, 4 May 1905). | DLRLC, DN, Scriban |
| C11 | Pa: a greeting of children and, familiarly, of adults; pa și pu, pa și pusi in the slang dictionary. | DEX, MDA2, Argou |
| C12 | Bonjurist: a mocking name after 1830–1840; duelgii, pantalonari. Creangă, „Ion Roată și Vodă Cuza”, 1883. | DEX, CADE, România Jună 1883 |
| C13 | The exact form “adieu” zero times in 4,002 Bédier verses; the commendation vocabulary at vv. 2389, 3694, 2253. | Wikisource |
| C14 | Do svidaniya: “until next time”. | Wiktionary |
| C15 | Negruzzi, 1808–1868 (biographical markers). | the encyclopaedia |
| C16 | Addio: from the phrase a Dio, with “ti raccomando” understood; the farewell of definitive parting. | Treccani |
| C17 | Tschüs: atschüs, a variant of Low German adjüs, probably from Spanish adiós, from Latin ad deum. | Duden |
| C18 | Adieu: from Old French a Dieu, shortened from “a dieu (vous) commant”. | Etymonline |
| C19 | Goodbye: the alteration of “God be with you”, under the influence of “good day”. | American Heritage |
| C20 | Ciao: a Venetian word, from s-ciao, s-ciavo, properly “(sono vostro) schiavo”. | Treccani |
| C21 | The Oxford manuscript (Bodleian, MS Digby 23): Anglo-Norman French, 1129–1165. | the encyclopaedia |
What stays open
- The immediate road of tschüss stays disputed: Duden leans toward Spanish, Pfeifer toward French.
The Romanian dictionaries are read in dexonline's transcriptions of the printed editions. French comes from Larousse, Littré and the Bédier text; Italian and ciao from Treccani; Spanish from the RAE; English from Etymonline and American Heritage; German from Pfeifer and Duden, precisely because they disagree on the road. Only the Russian gloss stays from Wiktionary, cut down to what all sources say alike. Verse and formula renderings: Marius Comper.
Type: Fraunces, Newsreader and Atkinson Hyperlegible, under the SIL Open Font Licence.