Bid You Adieu Meaning
Definition: To say goodbye.
This phrase comes from French, but, sometimes, English speakers use it as a way to say goodbye to someone or something.
It can be used to literally part ways with someone instead of using the word “goodbye.” For example, “I bid you adieu” is equivalent to saying goodbye.
It can also be used to describe giving something up or changing habits. For example, someone who is trying to lose weight may bid adieu to cookies and candy. This is a way of saying that he or she is giving up these things.
Origin of Bid You Adieu
Adieu is French for goodbye. The word adieu comes from the phrase “à dieu vous commant,” which means, in French, “I commend you to God.”
The phrase has been traced back to the 1300s in English.
Examples of Bid You Adieu
Today, the phrase bid adieu is used either formally to say goodbye or as a light-hearted and flippant way or describing cutting something out of one’s life.
To say, “I bid you adieu” is more formal than saying “goodbye” and rarely used as a direct replacement.
Instead, the phrase is more often used in a light-hearted way to describe getting rid of something. Most often a noun will be placed between the words to create a full phrase.
- I bid gambling adieu (to quit gambling)
- I bid gossipy people adieu (to describe spending less time with gossipers)
- I bid 2016 adieu (to describe moving forward from the previous year)
- This season has seen startling designer departures from legendary houses: Raf Simons bid adieu to Dior –New York Post
- As 2016 draws to a close, revelers around the world are bidding a weary adieu to a year filled with political surprises, prolonged conflicts and deaths of legendary celebrities. –Houston Chronicle
The phrase bid adieu describes getting rid of something or saying goodbye to it.