ciao

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian ciao (“hello, goodbye”), from Venetian ciao (“hello, goodbye, your (humble) servant”), from Venetian s-ciao / s-ciavo (“servant, slave”), from , related also to Italian schiavo, English Slav, slave and Old Venetian S-ciavón ("Slav"), from Latin Sclavonia (“Slavonia”). Not related to Vietnamese chào (“hello, goodbye”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʃaʊ/
• Rhymes: -aʊ
• Homophone: chow

Interjection

ciao

1. hello, hi.
2. bye, goodbye.

Synonyms

• (hello): aloha, shalom, ayubowan, privet
• (goodbye): adieu, adios, aloha, arrivederci, au revoir, bye, bye-bye, cheerio, cheers, farewell, good-by, good-bye, goodbye, good day, sayonara, shalom, so long

Translations

hello — see hello

goodbye — see goodbye

transliteration of the Italian greeting or farewell

• Arabic: تْشَاو (tšāw)
• Bulgarian: ча́о (čáo)
• Esperanto: ĉaŭ (eo)
• Estonian: tšau, tsau (et), tsauka, tsauki
• French: tchao (fr)
• Galician: chau m
• German: tschau (de)
• Japanese: チャオ (chao)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: tchau (pt)
• Russian: ча́о (ru) (čáo)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ћао

  Roman: ćao (sh)

• Spanish: chao (es)
• Ukrainian: ча́о (čáo)

Noun

ciao (plural ciaos)

1. A greeting or farewell using the word "ciao".
   • 2010, Robert V. Camuto, Palmento: A Sicilian Wine Odyssey (page 16)

     […] he excused himself, disappearing in a cloud of ciaos and operatic Italian.

   • 2007, Darwin Porter, Danforth Prince, Bahamas For Dummies (page 196)

     You hear more ciaos than hellos. Guests play bocce ball on the beach and dine on Italian and some Bahamian cuisine. Because of its strong Continental overlay, the cuisine is better here than at your typical Grand Bahama hotel.

Usage notes

In UK and in US usage, ciao is considered pretentious by some.

Anagrams

• Coia, ICAO

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Bavarian

Interjection

ciao

1. (Sappada) hello, hi, ciao

References

• Umberto Patuzzi, ed., (2013) Ünsarne Börtar, Luserna: Comitato unitario delle linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien.

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French

Alternative forms

• tchao

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Italian ciao (“hello, goodbye”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Venetian ciao (“hullo, goodbye; your (humble) servant”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Venetian s-ciao (“servant, slave”) or s-ciavo (“servant, slave”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl]  sclavus (“Slav, slave”), related also to Italian schiavo, English Slav, slave and old Venetian S-ciavón ("Slav"), from Latin Sclavonia (“Slavonia”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʃa.o/, /tʃaw/

Interjection

ciao

1. ciao

Synonyms

• adieu
• au revoir
• salut
• tschüs

Further reading

• “ciao”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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German

Alternative forms

• tschau

Etymology

From Italian ciao from Venetian ciao, ultimately from Latin sclavus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [t͡ʃaʊ̯]

• Audio:

  (file)

Interjection

ciao

1. ciao

Further reading

• “ciao” in Duden online

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Interlingua

Etymology

From Italian ciao (“hello, goodbye”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃao/

Interjection

ciao

1. ciao

Synonyms

• adeo

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Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Venetian s-ciao, sciavo (“slave”) (in particular the expression s-ciao vostro, literally meaning "(I am) your slave" but in essence meaning "I am at your service", or "your humble servant"), from Medieval Latin sclavus (“slave”) (whence also standard Italian schiavo); in the Venetian language originally pronounced /stʃaʊ/. Development and use is similar to the Southern German and Central European greeting of servus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃao/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: cià‧o

Interjection

ciao!

1. hello!

   Synonyms: salve (formal), buongiorno

2. goodbye!

   Synonyms: arrivederla (formal), arrivederci, ci vediamo (colloquial)

   • Early 1940s, written by an unknown Italian partisan, Bella Ciao (Goodbye, beautiful!):

     È questo il fiore del partigiano,
     o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
     È questo il fiore del partigiano,
     morto per la libertà!

     This is the flower of the partisan,
     Oh beautiful, goodbye! Beautiful, goodbye! Beautiful, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye!
     This is the flower of the partisan,
     Who died for freedom!

Derived terms

• ciao ciao

Descendants

• → Alemannic German: tschau, tschavò
• → Bavarian: ciao
• → Bulgarian: ча́о (čáo)
• → Czech: čau
• → Esperanto: ĉaŭ
• → Dutch: tjo
• → Estonian: tšau, tsau, tšauki, tsauki
• → French: ciao, tchao
• → German: tschau, ciao
• → Hungarian: csaó, csá
• → Interlingua: ciao
• → Japanese: チャオ (chao)
• → Latvian: čau
• → Macedonian: чао (čao)
• → Maltese: ċaw
• → Polish: ciao
• → Portuguese: tchau
• → Russian: ча́о (čáo)
• → Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic script: ћао

  Latin script: ćao

• → Slovak: čau
• → Slovene: čáo
• → Spanish: chao, chau
• → Ukrainian: ча́о (čáo)

Anagrams

• Caio

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Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian ciao.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃau/

Interjection

ciao!

1. Hello!
2. Goodbye!

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Spanish

Interjection

ciao

1. Alternative spelling of chau