goodbye (English)

Where does "goodbye" come from?

The English word 'goodbye' developed as a progressively shorter contraction of the phrase 'God be with you'[1]. Over time, the form shifted through various stages including 'God b'w'y' and 'goodby', eventually changing 'God' to 'good' due to confusion with common greetings like 'good morning'[1]. Modernly, the term is analyzed simply as a combination of 'good' and 'bye'[1].

Full etymology tree

• goodbye (English), 'An utterance of goodbye, the wishing of farewell to someone.'
  • derived goodby (English), 'Dated form of goodbye.'
    • derived Godby (English), 'A surname.'
      • derived Godby'e (English)
        • derived godbwye (English), 'Obsolete form of goodbye.'
          • derived God b'w'y (English)
            • derived God bwy yee (English)
              • derived God buy you (English)
                • derived God be wi' you (English)
                  • derived God be with ye (English)
                  • derived God be with you (English), 'God bless you.'

Ancestors

• *ǵʰew- (Proto-Indo-European)
• good (English)
• bye (English)

Sources

1. goodbye (English) - Wiktionary
2. good (English) - Wiktionary
3. bye (English) - Wiktionary
4. good (Middle English) - Wiktionary
5. gōdaz (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
6. gōd (Proto-West Germanic) - Wiktionary
7. god (Old English) - Wiktionary

Updated September 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris