Wiktionary

ciao

English edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Italian ciao (“hello, goodbye”), from Venetian ciao (“hello, goodbye, your (humble) servant”), from Venetian s-ciao / s-ciavo (“servant, slave”), from Medieval Latin sclavus (“Slav, slave”), 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 edit

  • IPA(key): /t͡ʃaʊ/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • Rhymes: -aʊ
  • Homophone: chow

Interjection edit

ciao

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

Translations edit

hello — see hello
goodbye — see goodbye

Noun edit

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 edit

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

Further reading edit

Anagrams edit

Bavarian edit

Interjection edit

ciao

  1. (Sappada) hello, hi, ciao

References edit

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

French edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

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

Pronunciation edit

Interjection edit

ciao

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

Further reading edit

German edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

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

Pronunciation edit

Interjection edit

ciao

  1. ciao

Further reading edit

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

Interlingua edit

Etymology edit

From Italian ciao (“hello, goodbye”).

Pronunciation edit

Interjection edit

ciao

  1. ciao

Synonyms edit

Italian edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Venetian 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 Venetian language originally pronounced /stʃaʊ/. Development and use is similar to the Southern German and Central European greeting of servus.

Pronunciation edit

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

Interjection edit

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 edit

Descendants edit

Further reading edit

Anagrams edit

Norwegian Bokmål edit

Etymology edit

From Italian ciao, from Venetian 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 edit

ciao

  1. ciao

Norwegian Nynorsk edit

Etymology edit

From Italian ciao, from Venetian 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 edit

ciao

  1. ciao
    Synonyms: adjø, farvel

Romanian edit

 
Romanian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ro

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Italian ciao.

Pronunciation edit

Interjection edit

ciao!

  1. Hello!
  2. Goodbye!

Spanish edit

Interjection edit

ciao

  1. Alternative spelling of chao
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