farewell
1 Americaninterjection
noun
-
an expression of good wishes at parting.
They made their farewells and left.
-
a fond farewell.
-
a party given to a person who is about to embark on a long journey, retire, leave an organization, etc.
adjective
noun
noun
-
a parting salutation
-
an act of departure; leave-taking
-
(modifier) expressing leave-taking
a farewell speech
verb
Etymology
Origin of farewell
First recorded in 1325–75, farewell is from the Middle English word farwel. See fare, well 1
Explanation
If you’re saying goodbye to someone you might not see for long time, say farewell, preferably while waving a hankie from the Queen Mary before it sails across the Atlantic. Farewell is a fancy way to say goodbye. A farewell is also an expression of good wishes at a parting. If you’re leaving a job after being there a long time, your co-workers might throw you a farewell party. Farewell is an expression, like "goodbye," but also a noun — if you like to leave without a lot of fuss, you don’t like long farewells. Farewell is a combination of fare and well. Fare comes from the Old English word faran, which means "to journey."
Vocabulary lists containing farewell
The Cricket in Times Square
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"The Three Chicarrones"
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocabulary for July 8–July 14, 2023
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Showtime’s “Twin Peaks: The Return,” which aired 18 episodes in 2017, was the most maximalist farewell imaginable, the kind of enormous canvas on which Lynch had always hoped to compose.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
He is also bidding farewell to his Staten Island condo, as first reported by New York Post.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026
No Friday farewell drinks with a goofy card everyone signed.
From Slate • Apr. 12, 2026
The Kings can extend Kopitar’s farewell tour by at least a couple of weeks by making the playoffs, a task that’s looking much more likely than it did a week ago.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2026
Youzek, Hela, the Gamzers, and I had an emotional farewell before I boarded the train that would take me to the coast, where I would catch a ship to the United States.
From "Prisoner B-3087" by Alan Gratz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
