Wiktionary

ciao

English

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Italian ciao (“hello, goodbye”), from Venetan ciao (“hello, goodbye, your (humble) servant”), from Venetan s-ciao / s-ciavo (“servant, slave”), from Medieval Latin sclavus (“Slav, slave”), related also to Italian schiavo, English Slav, slave and Old Venetan S-ciavón ("Slav"), from Latin Sclavus, ultimately from Proto-Slavic *slověninъ. Not related to Vietnamese chào (“hello, goodbye”). Doublet of Slav and slave.

Pronunciation

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Interjection

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ciao

  1. Hello, hi.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:hello
  2. Bye, goodbye.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:goodbye

Derived terms

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Translations

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Noun

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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

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

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Bavarian

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Interjection

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ciao

  1. (Sappada) hello, hi, ciao

References

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

French

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Italian ciao (“hello, goodbye”), from Venetan ciao (“hello, goodbye; your (humble) servant”), from Venetan s-ciao (“servant, slave”) or s-ciavo (“servant, slave”), from Medieval Latin sclavus (“Slav, slave”), related also to Italian schiavo, English Slav, slave and Old Venetan S-ciavón (“Slav”), from Latin Sclavonia (“Slavonia”).

Pronunciation

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Interjection

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ciao

  1. ciao
    Synonyms: adieu, au revoir, salut, tschüs

Further reading

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German

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Italian ciao from Venetan ciao, ultimately from Latin sclavus. Doublet of Sklave and Slawe.

Pronunciation

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Interjection

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ciao

  1. ciao

Further reading

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  • “ciao” in Duden online
  • “ciao” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Interlingua

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Etymology

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From Italian ciao (“hello, goodbye”).

Pronunciation

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Interjection

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ciao

  1. ciao

Synonyms

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Italian

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈt͡ʃa.o/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -ao
  • Hyphenation: cià‧o

Interjection

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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

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Descendants

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Norwegian Bokmål

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Etymology

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From Italian ciao, from Venetan sciavo (“slave”), from Medieval Latin sclavus (“slave”), from Late Latin Sclavus (“Slav”) (as Slavs were often forced into slavery in the Middle Ages), from Byzantine Greek Σκλάβος (Sklábos), from Proto-Slavic *slověninъ. Doublet of slave and slaver.

Interjection

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ciao

  1. ciao

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology

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From Italian ciao, from Venetan sciavo (“slave”), from Medieval Latin sclavus (“slave”). This in turn is from Late Latin Sclavus (“Slav”), from Byzantine Greek Σκλάβος (Sklábos), from Proto-Slavic *slověninъ, as Slavs were often forced into slavery in the Middle Ages. Doublet of slave and slavar.

Interjection

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ciao

  1. ciao
    Synonyms: adjø, farvel

Romanian

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Romanian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ro

Etymology

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Borrowed from Italian ciao.

Pronunciation

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Interjection

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ciao!

  1. Hello!
  2. Goodbye!

Spanish

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Interjection

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ciao

  1. Alternative spelling of chao
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