ciao
German, interjection[t͡ʃaʊ̯]
ciao is spelled C-I-A-O (4 letters) and appears 2.5 times per million words in written German, the 20,880th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Ciao is a German interjection meaning “ciao” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
What does ciao mean in English?
interjection
- 1
ciao
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
phrase: 1. aus dem Italienischen stammender, informeller und umgangssprachlicher Gruß, wird in Deutschland praktisch nur zum Abschied verwendet, demgegenüber im Schweizerdeutschen auch zur Begrüßung (wie auch im Italienischen üblich)
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of ciao
- tschau alternative
- tschaui diminutive
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce ciao?
- [t͡ʃaʊ̯]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is ciao in German?
ciao appears 2.5 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).