Where does “farewell” come from?
Farewell comes from Middle English farewel, from the phrase fare wel in Middle English and Old English, literally meaning "go well."
farewell (English): A wish of happiness or safety at parting,...
Definitions
- A wish of happiness or safety at parting,...
Ancestry of “farewell”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | fare | A going; journey; travel; voyage; course;... |
| 2 | Middle English | fare | journey, going |
| 3 | Old English | fær | sudden danger, calamity; sudden attack; ambush; a... |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *far | — |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | farą | a means of passing, ford, ferry |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |
Words derived from “farewell”