Home › Glossary › Letter A

adieu

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

An archaic farewell term denoting a solemn or formal goodbye; in poetry, it carries weight of permanence, loss, or parting, often in elegies or dramatic monologues, evoking dignified emotional distance.

Detailed Definition
The term 'adieu' is derived from French, meaning 'to God,' and is used to express a heartfelt farewell. In the context of the poem, it signifies the departure from worldly pleasures and delights, emphasizing the transient nature of life and the inevitability of death.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Chaucer's era, "adieu" marked formal farewells as in "Courts adieu, and all delights, / Farewell to mirth and noble rites"; Byron's "Childe Harold" laments "Adieu, adieu! my native shore / Fades in the light of yonder star"; a contemporary poet bids "Adieu to pixel screens and hurried days, / Embrace the quiet woods once more"; Emily Dickinson echoes archaic tone with "Adieu, sweet hours of dawn's first light"; modern eco-poetry: "Adieu, wild rivers dammed and tamed by man"; Shakespeare's "Love's Labour's Lost" uses "Adieu, my lord, adieu" for courtly parting.
Additional Notes
The word 'adieu' is used in the poem to convey a formal farewell to the pleasures of life.; Found in the poem, Vanitas Vanitatum by John Webster
Also Known As
farewell parting word valediction au revoir
Skip to main content