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PlainSpell

farewell

fare·well/fɛɹˈwɛl/noun, adjective, interjection, verb

farewell is spelled F-A-R-E-W-E-L-L: 8 letters and 2 syllables (fare·well). It appears 7.8 times per million words in written English, the 8,417th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, farewell means “A wish of happiness or safety at parting, especially a permanent departure” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of farewell is farewells.

How many letters and syllables are in farewell?

Letters8: F-A-R-E-W-E-L-L
Syllables2: fare·well
In writing7.8 times per million words; the 8,417th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is farewell?

Farewell appears 7.8 times per million words in written English, the 8,417th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce farewell?

  • UK /fɛəˈwɛl/
  • US /fɛɹˈwɛl/
  • Australia /feːˈwel/

Farewell has 2 syllables, split fare·well in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-farewell.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with farewell?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as farewell from its last stressed vowel (/ɛl/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of farewell

  • farewells plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • farewelling participle, present
  • farewelled participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does farewell mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A wish of happiness or safety at parting, especially a permanent departure.

    He bid farewell to all of his fans.

  2. 2

    A departure; the act of leaving.

    Before I take my farewell of the subject.

adjective

  1. 1

    Parting, valedictory, final.

    a farewell discourse;  the band's farewell tour

interjection

  1. 1

    Goodbye

    He said "Farewell!" and left.

verb

  1. 1

    To bid farewell or say goodbye.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Farewell in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchadieu (a wish of happiness at parting), prendre congé, dire adieu, faire ses adieux (bid farewell)
GermanLebewohl, Adieu (a wish of happiness at parting), Lebewohl sagen (bid farewell), Abschied (an act of departure)
Portugueseadeus (a wish of happiness at parting), despedir-se (bid farewell), despedida (an act of departure), de despedida (parting, valedictory, final)
Spanishadiós (a wish of happiness at parting), despedirse (bid farewell), despedida (an act of departure)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does farewell come from?

From Middle English farewel, from fare wel! (and the variants with the personal pronoun "fare ye well" and "fare you well" used in the Renaissance), an imperative expression, possibly further derived from Old English *far wel!, equivalent to fare (“to fare, travel, journey”) + well.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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