Etymology

farewell

fare·well
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Today it means: A wish of happiness or safety at parting, especially a permanent departure. Full definition →

Middle English farewel ← Old English *far wel!
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farewell · noun, adjective, interjection, verb1

  1. Old English · inherited from*far wel!
  2. Middle English · inherited fromfarewel
  3. English todayfarewell

From Middle English farewel, from fare wel! (and the variants with the personal pronoun "fare ye well" and "fare you well" used in the Renaissance), an imperative expression, possibly further derived from Old English *far wel!, equivalent to fare (“to fare, travel, journey”) + well, said to somebody setting out on a journey. Compare Scots farewele, fairweill (“farewell”), Saterland Frisian Foarwäil (“farewell”), West Frisian farwol (“farewell”), German Fahrwol, Fahrwohl, East Frisian forwal, Dutch vaarwel (“farewell (sadly)”), Danish farvel (“farewell”), Norwegian farvel (“farewell”), Swedish farväl (“farewell”), Faroese farvæl (“goodbye”), Icelandic far vel (“farewell”). The extensive list of cognates suggests a postulated ultimate Proto-Germanic phrase of origin, possibly something akin to *far wela.

Farewell · proper noun2

From fare + well.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.