Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definition: Bye |
ByeAdjective1. Minor or subordinate; `by' is often used in combination; "a side interest"; "a by (or bye) effect"; "only a by comment"; "by-election"; "bye-election"; "a by-product"; "by-play". Noun1. You advance to the next round in a tournament without playing an opponent; "he had a bye in the first round". 2. A farewell remark; "they said their good-byes". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "bye" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1350. (references) |
Note: Bye \Bye\ (b[imac]), noun. 1. A thing not directly aimed at; something which is a secondary object of regard; an object by the way, etc.; as in on or upon the bye, i. e., in passing; indirectly; by implication. [Obsolete except in the phrase by the bye.]. (references) |
Synonyms: ByeSynonyms: by(a) (adj), bye(a) (adj), side(a) (adj), adieu (n), adios (n), arrivederci (n), au revoir (n), auf wiedersehen (n), bye-bye (n), cheerio (n), good day (n), goodby (n), good-by (n), goodbye (n), good-bye (n), pass (n), sayonara (n), so long (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Departure | Leave a place, quit, vacate, evacuate, abandon; go off the stage, make one's exit; retire, withdraw, remove; vamoose, vamose; go one's way, go along, go from home; take flight, take wing; spring, fly, flit, wing one's flight; fly away, whip away; embark; go on board, go aboard; set sail' put to sea, go to sea; sail, take ship; hoist blue Peter; get under way, weigh anchor; strike tents, decamp; walk one's chalks, cut one's stick; take leave; say good bye, bid goodbye; Noun: disappear; abscond; (avoid); entrain; inspan. |
Seclusion Exclusion | Adjective: secluded, sequestered, retired, delitescent, private, bye; out of the world, out of the way; " the world forgetting by the world forgot ". |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Bye |
| English words defined with "bye": by, By the bye ♦ pass ♦ side. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "bye": BYE BLOW ♦ Goodbyes ♦ John Anderson, my Jo ♦ k-den ♦ PATTI. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Bye mum (Bridget Jones's Diary; writing credit: Helen Fielding) Bye bye California (Superman; writing credit: Jerry Siegel; Joe Shuster) Good bye, Margo (All About Eve; writing credit: Joseph L. Mankiewicz) Thank you, good bye, good bye, thank you, good bye (Aladdin; writing credit: Roger Allers; Ron Clements) Bye Superman (The Simpsons; writing credit: Artur Brauner; Paul Hengge) | |
Lyrics | Marciano, Liberace, Santayana good bye (We Didn't Start The Fire; performing artist: Billy Joel) Before we say good bye (The End of the Innocence; performing artist: Don Henley) Why say bye bye (Still; performing artist: Macy Gray) Could I say it when you play it try boom bye bye (Feel Me Flow; performing artist: Naughty By Nature) Adios, amigo, bye bye (Me, Myself and I; performing artist: Vitamin C) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Bye Bye Blues (1973) Sevilla Good Bye (1954) Bye Bluebeard Bye (1949) Alibi Bye Bye (1935) Lenin! Good bye (2003) | |
Song Titles | Bye Bye Bye (performing artist: N Sync) Bye Bye Baby (performing artist: The Four Seasons) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Music |
|
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
![]() | [Little girl waving "Good bye"]. Credit: National Library of Medicine. | ![]() | Good bye! see you next week, Chief. Credit: Library of Congress. |
![]() | "Good bye, Dad, I'm off to fight for Old Glory, you buy U.S. gov't bonds" Third Liberty Loan / / Lawrence Harris ; Sackett & Wilhelms Corp. N.Y. Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | "Good bye, Dad, I'm off to fight for Old Glory, you buy U.S. gov't bonds" Third Liberty Loan / / Lawrence Harris ; Sackett & Wilhelms Corp. N.Y. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "Good bye blue sky" by Filip Schneider Commentary: "Towering over my head." | "Bye bye sun" by Nik Frey Commentary: "Fire in the sky." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Emma | Austen, Jane | By the bye, that is almost enough to put one out of conceit with a niece |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Trade | Eritrea | To finance its overall deficit, the government resorted to bank credit; as a result total, outstanding domestic debt rose from 2.8 billion Nakfa (47 percent o GDP) by the end of 1998 to approximately 7.7 billion Nakfa bye the end of 2000 (about 106 percent of GDP). A substantial part of this debt was financed by selling government treasury bills to the Central Bank. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Bob Barker | Bob Barker reminding you to help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered. Good bye, everybody. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "Bye" is generally used as an interjection -- approximately 92.12% of the time. "Bye" is used about 1,763 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Interjection | 92.12% | 1,624 | 5,121 |
| Noun (singular) | 7.88% | 139 | 26,913 |
| Total | 100.00% | 1,763 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "bye" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Bye | Last name | 1,000 | 9,593 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
Expressions using "bye": by the bye ♦ bye bye ♦ bye bye! ♦ bye election ♦ bye for now! ♦ bye law ♦ bye path ♦ good bye ♦ say good bye to. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "bye": bye-bye, bye-byes, bye-ee, bye-eee, bye-election, bye-elections, bye-end, Bye-fellowship, Bye-law, bye-laws, bye-line, bye-names, bye-ways. | |
Ending with "bye": basser-bye, by-and-bye, bye-bye, cheerie-bye, good-bye, hush-a-bye, in-bye, kiss good-bye, leg-bye, say good-bye, tutty-bye, you can kiss it good-bye. | |
Containing "bye": say good-bye to smb.. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
good bye | 747 | bye good lyrics say time | 63 |
good bye poem | 550 | bye bye baby store | 63 |
good bye quote | 353 | bye good hard its say so yesterday | 59 |
bye bye baby | 259 | the long good bye | 59 |
bye bye birdie | 248 | bye good lyrics say | 56 |
bye | 190 | best bye | 50 |
bye good lyrics | 186 | good bye friend poem | 49 |
good bye card | 145 | birdie bye bye lyrics | 48 |
to say good bye | 145 | bye bye love | 48 |
bye good letter | 135 | last good bye | 47 |
good bye song | 134 | bye good lenin | 46 |
bye bye bye | 134 | the good bye girl | 43 |
saying good bye | 121 | good bye love poem | 42 |
time to say good bye | 108 | bye good quote saying | 42 |
good bye earl | 97 | bye good speech | 41 |
bye bye | 86 | branch bye good michelle | 40 |
bye edge good jagged lyrics | 84 | rock a bye baby | 39 |
bye good poem saying | 76 | good bye poetry | 37 |
branch bye good lyrics michelle | 74 | bye friend good | 37 |
bye bye miss american pie | 72 | bye good hard its say so | 35 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "bye"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | tot siens (goodbye, so long), adieu (adieu, farewell, goodbye). (various references) | |
Albanian | mirupafshim (adieu, au revoir, bye bye, good buy, good bye, so long). (various references) | |
Arabic | فرعي (sub, subsidiary), نقطة في لعبة الكريكت, الى اللقاء (bye bye, pip pip), ثانوي (inferior, insignificant, marginal, minor, petty, secondary, side, sub, unimportant). (various references) | |
Bavarian | auf wiedaschaung (goodbye, so long). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | второстепенен (accessary, accessory, accidental, by, collateral, inessential, lesser, minor, off, second, secondary, side, subordinate, tributary, two bit), нещо второстепенно (by), пропусната от вратаря топка. (various references) | |
Chinese | 再见 (bye-bye, goodbye). (various references) | |
Czech | sbohem (adieu, bye bye, good bye), nashle. (various references) | |
Danish | farvel (adieu, farewell, goodbye, good-bye). (various references) | |
Dutch | vaarwel (adieu, farewell, goodbye, good-bye), adieu (adieu, farewell, goodbye, good-bye). (various references) | |
Esperanto | ĝis revido (goodbye, so long), adiaŭ (adieu, farewell, goodbye, good-bye). (various references) | |
Faeroese | farvæl (adieu, farewell, goodbye). (various references) | |
Farsi | فرعی (Accessory, Adjunct, Ancillary, By, Derivative, Extraneous, Inferior, Petty, Secondary, Sideway, Subordinate, Subsidiary, Tributary), چیزهای کناری یاثانوی , خداحافظ. (various references) | |
Finnish | hyvästi (adieu, farewell, goodbye, good-bye!). (various references) | |
French | au revoir (bye bye, good bye), adieu (good bye). (various references) | |
Frisian | farwol (adieu, farewell, goodbye). (various references) | |
Galician | adeus (good bye). (various references) | |
German | tschüs (cheerio, so long). (various references) | |
Greek | ώρα καλή (see you). (various references) | |
Hebrew | להתראות (adieu, au revoir, be seen, cheerio, farewell, good bye, meet, so long), היה שלום (farewell, good bye). (various references) | |
Hungarian | viszlát (adieu, bye bye, farewell, goodbye, so long). (various references) | |
Icelandic | bless (adieu, farewell, goodbye, so long). (various references) | |
Indonesian | selamat jalan. (various references) | |
Irish | beannacht (adieu, blessing, farewell, goodbye), slÚn (adieu, farewell, goodbye). (various references) | |
Italian | arrivederci (bye bye, goodbye, see you later, see you soon, so, so long), addio (adieu, bye bye, farewell, goodbye). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | ハ長調 (bar, bar code, barbarism, barbecue, barbell, barber, barell, bargain, bargain sale, bargaining power, bartender, barter, base, Bayer, BBQ, Berkeley, berkelium, Berkley, Bermuda shorts, Bermuda Triangle, berth, bias, biathlon, bio, bio music, biochip, biocomputer, bioconversion, bioelectronics, bioethics, biofeedback, biogas, biography, biohazard, bioholonics, bioindustry, bioinfomatics, biomass, bionics, biopsy, bioreactor, biorhythm, bioscience, biosensor, biotechnology, biotelemetry, biotron, bird carving, bird sanctuary, bird watching, birdcall, birdie, Birmingham, birth, birth control, birthday, bourbon, Burberry, burger, burlesque, burner, burn-out syndrome, burst, buying power, by, C major, crowbar, Farbenfabriken Bayer Aktiengesellschaft, hair combed in stripes across a bald pate, old man who takes Viagra, scale, updating a software version, Vermont, vernier, verse, version, vertical marketing, violin, violinist, virgin, Virginia, virginity, virtual, virtual circuit, virtual reality). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | バイ (by). (various references) | |
Korean | 안녕 (goodbye). (various references) | |
Lombard | se vedom (adieu, farewell, goodbye). (various references) | |
Luganda | weeraba. (various references) | |
Manx | shaghey (bygone, delay, past), bai (bias, partiality, slope). (various references) | |
Norwegian | på gjensyn (goodbye, so long), farvel (adieu, farewell, goodbye, good-bye). (various references) | |
Papiamen | tanten (adieu, farewell, goodbye), so long (adieu, farewell, goodbye), ayo (adieu, farewell, goodbye), asta la vista (goodbye, so long). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | yebay.(various references) | |
Polish | do widzenia (goodbye, so long), żegnaj (adieu, farewell, goodbye). (various references) | |
Portuguese | adeus (adieu, farewell, goodbye, good-bye, vale, valediction). (various references) | |
Romanian | secundar (adjective, secondary, seconds hand, subordinate, subsidiary), accesoriu (accessary, accessories, accessory, accidental, adjunct, adjunctive, adventitious, appendant, appurtenance, appurtenant, attachment, fixture, second, secondary, subordinate, subsidiary), îndepãrtat (distant, high, long run, outlying, remote, removed). (various references) | |
Russian | прощание (adieu, farewell, good bye, leave, leave taking, leave-taking, parting, valediction), прощальный привет, пока (as long as, as yet, bye bye, bye-bye, cheerio, during, for, for the time being, pro tempore, so far, so long as, till, until the time at which, whereas, while, whiles, whilst). (various references) | |
Scottish | beannachd leibh (adieu, farewell, goodbye), beannachd leat (adieu, farewell, goodbye). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | zdravo (hello, how, soundly), sporedna stvar (accessary, accessory, side issue, sideshow), pozdrav (bye bye, greeting, obeisance, salutation, salute). (various references) | |
Spanish | adiós (adieu, adios, by-by, bye bye, cheerio, farewell, good bye, goodbye). (various references) | |
Sranan | adyosi (adieu, farewell, goodbye). (various references) | |
Swahili | kwa herini (adieu, farewell, goodbye, good-bye), kwa heri (adieu, farewell, goodbye, good-bye). (various references) | |
Swedish | bisak (matter of detail, secondary matter, side issue), vi ses (goodbye, see you later, so long), hejdå (ciao), hej så länge (goodbye, see you, see you later, so long), hej då (adieu, bye bye, farewell, goodbye, so long, tata), adjö så länge (goodbye, so long), adjö (adieu, farewell, good bye, goodbye, good-bye). (various references) | |
Thai | บ๊ายบาย (ta-ra!). (various references) | |
Turkish | krikette sayı, gülegüle (adieu, farewell, goodbye), ast (inferior, junior, sub-, subaltern, subordinate, underling, understrapper), allahaismarladik (adieu, farewell, goodbye), çiftli yarışan çiftlerden biri. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | щось другорядне, гра одного проти двух, боксер вільний від участі в змаганні, прощайте (adieu, bye bye, vale). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | thứ yếu (unessential), phụ (accessary, accessory, assistant, associate, auxiliary, extra, secondary, subordinate, subsidiary), cái thứ yếu (unessential). (various references) | |
Yucatec | tu heel k'iin (goodbye, so long). (various references) | |
Zulu | salani kahle (adieu, farewell, goodbye), sala kahle (adieu, farewell, goodbye), hambani kahle (adieu, farewell, goodbye), hamba kahle (adieu, farewell, goodbye). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | ave. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Genesis Chapter 42, Verse 3 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Katebhsan de oi adelfoi iwshf oi deka priasqai siton ex aiguptou |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Descendentes igitur fratres Ioseph decem ut emerent frumenta in Aegypto |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | Thanne descendynge the ten britheren of Joseph that thei myyten bigge whete in Egipte, |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | So went Iosephs ten brethern doune to bye corne in Egipte |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | So Joseph's ten brothers went down to get grain from Egypt. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Genesis Chapter 42, Verse 3 |
| Cebuano | Ug ang napulo ka mga magsoon ni Jose milugsong aron sa pagpalit ug trigo gikan sa Egipto. |
| Croatian | Tako desetero Josipove braæe siðe da nabavi žita iz Egipta. |
| Danish | Så drog de ti af Josefs Brødre ned for at købe Korn i Ægypten; |
| Dutch | Toen togen Jozefs tien broederen af, om koren uit Egypte te kopen. |
| Finnish | Niin kymmenen Joosefin veljeä lähti ostamaan viljaa Egyptistä. |
| French | Dix frères de Joseph descendirent en Égypte, pour acheter du blé. |
| German | Also zogen hinab zehn Brüder Josephs, daß sie in Ägypten Getreide kauften. |
| Haitian Creole | Se konsa, dis nan frè Jozèf yo desann nan peyi Lejip, y al achte ble. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Lalu pergilah kesepuluh abang Yusuf itu membeli gandum di Mesir. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Maka turunlah saudara-saudara Yusuf itu, sepuluh orang banyaknya, hendak membeli gandum ke Mesir. |
| Italian | Allora i dieci fratelli di Giuseppe scesero per acquistare il frumento in Egitto. |
| Maori | Na ka haere nga tuakana kotahi tekau o Hohepa ki raro, ki Ihipa, ki te hoko witi. |
| Norwegian | Da drog Josefs ti brødre ned for å kjøpe korn i Egypten. |
| Portuguese | Então desceram os dez irmãos de José, para comprarem trigo no Egito. |
| Rumanian | Zece frayi ai lui Iosif s`au pogorkt kn Egipt, ca sq cumpere grku. |
| Spanish | Diez de los hermanos de José descendieron a comprar trigo en Egipto. |
| Swedish | Då foro tio av Josefs bröder ned för att köpa säd i Egypten. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "bye": byelaw, byelaws, byes. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "bye": abye, debye, forbye, forebye, goodbye, inbye, outbye, rockabye, upbye. (additional references) | |
Words containing "bye": abyes, debyes, goodbyes, lobbyer, lobbyers, rockabyes. (additional references) | |
| |
"Bye" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: baye, bayee, Bayeh, bce, bcy, Beya, beye, bfe, bhe, bie, biem, Bii, bije, biqe, bive, biyo, blyde, blye, blyme, Blyne, Bmya, boye, bqe, brye, bryee, bse, bue, buye, buy'em, bwe, bwye, Bya, byad, byb, Bybee, bycer, byd, Byde, byed, byee, Byeee, byel, byer, byet, byg, byid, byj, Byk, byke, byl, byle, bym, Byme, Byn, byo, byr, byt, byu, byv, Byw, Iye, Mbiyu, uye, zye. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "bye" (pronounced bī") |
| 2 | b ī" | bi, buy, by, goodbye, hereby, nearby, standby, thereby, whereby. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: bey. | |
| Words within the letters "b-e-y" | |
-1 letter: be, by, ye. | |
| Words containing the letters "b-e-y" | |
+1 letter: abye, bevy, beys, byes, byre, byte, gybe, obey. | |
+2 letters: abbey, abyes, barye, bayed, beady, beaky, beamy, beefy, beery, beigy, belay, belly, bendy, benny, berry, beryl, bluey, blype, bogey, boney, buyer, byres, bytes, debye, derby, ebony, embay, gybed, gybes, herby, inbye, maybe, obeys, rebuy, upbye, webby, yerba. | |
+3 letters: abbeys, ambery, bailey, bakery, barely, barley, baryes, baryte, basely, baymen, beachy, beauty, beechy, belady, belays, belfry, benday, bendys, benzyl, beryls, betony, betray, bewray, beylic, beylik, beyond, bigeye, bleary, blebby, blenny, blimey, blooey, bluely, bluesy, blueys, blypes, bogeys, boogey, bowery, bowyer, brayed, brayer, bready, breezy, briery, bugeye, buoyed, burley, buyers, byelaw, bygone, byline, byname, byrled, byrnie, daybed, debyes, dyable, embays, embody, emboly, embryo, eyebar, feebly, forbye, foreby, hereby, maybes, nearby, nebuly, obeyed, obeyer, outbye, pebbly, rebody, rebury, rebuys, redbay, ribeye, syboes, trebly, ubiety, yabber, yerbas. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Fiction 10. Quotations: Non-fiction 11. Quotations: Spoken 12. Usage Frequency | 13. Names: Frequency 14. Expressions 15. Expressions: Internet 16. Translations: Modern | 17. Translations: Ancient 18. Bible Trace 19. Derivations 20. Rhymes | 21. Anagrams 22. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.