*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of adieu

From Middle English adieu also adew, adewe, adue, from Old French adieu (“to God”), a shortening of a Dieu vous comant (“I commend you to God”), from Medieval Latin ad Deum (“to God”). Doublet of adios.

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
intj

Said to wish a final farewell; goodbye.

noun

A farewell, a goodbye; especially a fond farewell, or a lasting or permanent farewell.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English adieu also adew, adewe, adue, from Old French adieu (“to God”), a shortening of a Dieu vous comant (“I commend you to God”), from Medieval Latin ad Deum (“to God”). Doublet of adios.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionadieuenm
  • Derivation mentionadieufro
  • Doublet mentionadiosen
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "adieu"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English adieu"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "adieu",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to God"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French adieu (“to God”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la-med",
        "3": "ad Deum",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to God"
      },
      "expansion": "Medieval Latin ad Deum (“to God”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "adios"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of adios"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "adieu",
      "adieu#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "adew",
      "adew#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "adewe",
      "adewe#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "adue",
      "adue#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "adieu",
      "adieu#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "a Dieu vous comant",
      "a Dieu vous comant#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "ad Deum",
      "ad Deum#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "adios",
      "adios#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "intj",
      "glosses": [
        "Said to wish a final farewell; goodbye."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "473750e2fa0cb29938c8a45fb08f6c5d33e042b7ceb04b16a081b208e3a7b030",
      "rawRecordSha256": "90e2aef76a0ddd86e9a99c3dfbb4de1ea11e41c394d016118e804f9a91b89bd2",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 172281
    },
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A farewell, a goodbye; especially a fond farewell, or a lasting or permanent farewell."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "4d6bccd24bcb9e730cd3813cb03b28d7dd78d57b4cf945218d3f885b042a7669",
      "rawRecordSha256": "2a552571a381f835f74c9ccb502a79bd1161ca113a3b00abc2bdd290c6b62169",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 172282
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for adieu →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-YWRpZXU