Of the many ways to say farewell — peace, so long, later skater, ciao — goodbye is the most common.

A form of good-bye has been spoken since the sixteenth century. It comes from godbwye, which is a contraction of “God be with ye.” The phrase was influenced by good day and good evening.

The abbreviated forms of good-bye are bye and bye-bye.

Bye-bye was originally a nursery phrase first used in the early 1700s to lull a child to sleep. One of its definitions is “baby talk.”

Bye has multiple meanings, some related to sports. In golf, the holes of a stipulated course that are still unplayed after a match is finished are a bye. In cricket, a bye is a run made on a ball not struck by the batsman.

Bye is also used in the idiom “by the bye,” which means “incidentally” or “by the way.”

Several Spanish terms of farewell are now commonly used in English. Adiós means “good-bye.” The word is a contraction of a, which means “to,” and Dios, which means “God.” Hasta luego means “see you later.” In the role of the Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the current governor of California, popularized the expression hasta la vista, which means “so long” or “until we meet again.”

Unlike good-bye, the history of hello involves hunting dogs and a touch of danger. Learn the whole story, here.