How to Say Goodbye in Latin: Vale

The classical Latin word for "goodbye" (to one person) is vale (pronounced WAH-leh; v = w).

• Vale – singular ("be well")
• Valete – plural ("be well, all of you")

Other parting phrases:

• Cura ut valeas – "Take care that you be well"
• Te valere iubeo – "I bid you to be well"
• Ave atque vale – "Hail and farewell" (Catullus 101, poetic)

Ecclesiastical Latin uses vale similarly. In modern Latin conversation, vale remains standard.