final words or gestures said when parting from someone, expressing farewell or the act of leaving.
From 'good' (wishing well) and 'bye' (short for 'be with you'), contracted from the archaic phrase 'God be with you.' The contraction happened over centuries in informal speech.
The phrase 'goodbye' is one of the last major contractions in English—it originally meant 'God be with you,' which shows how informal speech gradually wore down the full blessing into a casual two-syllable word.
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