Etymology

bye-bye

Today it means: Goodbye. Full definition →

English byeredup. ← Middle English yow ← Old English ēow
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰew-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰutós?
  3. Proto-Germanic*gudą
  4. Proto-West Germanic*god
  5. Old Englishgod
  6. Middle Englishgod
  7. Middle EnglishGod
  8. EnglishGod
  9. Proto-Indo-European*bʰuH-
  10. Proto-Indo-European*bʰuHyétider.?
  11. Proto-Germanic*beuną
  12. Proto-West Germanic*beun
  13. Old Englishbēon
  14. Middle Englishbeen
  15. Englishbe
  16. Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
  17. Proto-Indo-European*dwi-
  18. Proto-Indo-European*wí
  19. Proto-Indo-European*wíteros
  20. Proto-Indo-European*wíterom
  21. Proto-Germanic*wiþrą
  22. Proto-West Germanic*wiþr
  23. Old Englishwiþerclip.
  24. Old Englishwiþ
  25. Middle Englishwiþ
  26. Englishwith
  27. Proto-Indo-European*yúHs
  28. Proto-Indo-European*uswé
  29. Proto-Indo-European*uswís
  30. Proto-Germanic*izwiz
  31. Proto-West Germanic*iwwiz
  32. Old Englishēow
  33. Middle Englishyow
  34. Englishyou
  35. Englishgoodinflu.
  36. Englishgoodbyeclip.
  37. Englishbyeredup.
  38. English todaybye-bye

Reduplication of bye.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.