Definition of goodbye! in English English dictionary: toodle-pip; toodle-oo; farewell; a formula used to another person or persons when the speaker or writer or the person addressed to is departing; formulae You say `Goodbye' to someone when you or they are leaving, or at the end of a telephone conversation; When you say your goodbyes, you say something such as `Goodbye' when you leave. He said his goodbyes knowing that a long time would pass before he would see his child again I said a hurried goodbye and walked home in the cold; {ü} Farewell! (expression used when parting); {i} farewell, see you later; An utterance of goodbye, the wishing of farewell to someone; Farewell; a form of address used at parting; to kiss something goodbye: see kiss. used when you are leaving someone, or when they are leaving hello; If you say goodbye or wave goodbye to something that you want or usually have, you accept that you are not going to have it. He has probably said goodbye to his last chance of Olympic gold We can wave goodbye to the sort of protection that people at work need and deserve; See the last Note under By, prep; When you say goodbye to someone, you say something such as `Goodbye', `Bye', or `See you', when you or they are leaving. You can also wave goodbye to someone. He left without saying goodbye He wanted to say goodbye to you They came to the front door to wave goodbye; cheerio; au revoir; aloha; farewell; a formula used to another person or persons when the speaker or writer is departing; hasta; cheers; chimo; adios; Alteration (influenced by good day), of God be with you. Word History: No doubt more than one reader has wondered exactly how goodbye is derived from the phrase “God be with you.” To understand this, it is helpful to see earlier forms of the expression, such as God be wy you, god b'w'y, godbwye, god buy' ye, and good-b'wy. The first word of the expression is now good and not God, for good replaced God by analogy with such expressions as good day, perhaps after people no longer had a clear idea of the original sense of the expression. A letter of 1573 written by Gabriel Harvey contains the first recorded use of goodbye: “To requite your gallonde [gallon] of godbwyes, I regive you a pottle of howdyes,” recalling another contraction that is still used; sayonara; a farewell remark; "they said their good-byes"; farewell