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

Definition: Farewell |
FarewellAdjective1. Of a speech expressing leave-taking; "a valedictory address". Noun1. An acknowledgment or expression of goodwill at parting. 2. The act of departing politely; "he disliked long farewells"; "he took his leave"; "parting is such sweet sorrow". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "farewell" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Dream Interpretation | To dream of bidding farewell, is not very favorable, as you are likely to hear unpleasant news of absent friends. For a young woman to bid her lover farewell, portends his indifference to her. If she feels no sadness in this farewell, she will soon find others to comfort her. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted .... |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonyms: FarewellSynonyms: farewell(a) (adj), valedictory (adj), leave (n), leave-taking (n), parting (n), word of farewell (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Departure | Leave taking, valediction, adieu, farewell, goodbye, auf wiedersehen, sayonara, dosvidanya, ciao, aloha, hasta la vista; stirrup cup; valedictorian. |
Interjection: begone!; (ejection); farewell! adieu! goodbye! good day! au revoir! fare you well! God bless you! God speed! all aboard! auf wiedersehen! au plaisir de vous revoir! bon voyage! gluckliche Reise! vive valeque! | |
Disrepute | Noun: disrepute, discredit; ill repute, bad repute, bad name, bad odor, bad favor, ill name, ill odor, ill favor; disapprobation; ingloriousness, derogation; abasement, debasement; abjectness; Adjective: degradation, dedecoration; a long farewell to all my greatness; odium, obloquy, opprobrium, ignominy. |
Loss | Interjection: farewell to! adieu to. |
Relinquishment | Verb: relinquish, give up, abandon, desert, forsake, leave in the lurch; go back on; depart from, secede from, withdraw from; back out of; leave, quit, take leave of, bid a long farewell; vacate; (resign). |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Farewell |
| English words defined with "farewell": adieu, adios, afternoon, arrivederci, au revoir, auf wiedersehen ♦ baccalaureate, Baccalaureate sermon, bye, bye-bye ♦ cheerio ♦ good afternoon, good day, good morning, good night, good-by, good-bye ♦ Millstone girt, morning ♦ say farewell, sayonara, so long, stirrup cup ♦ To shake hands ♦ valediction, valedictory, valedictory address. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "farewell": CARUSO ♦ KUBELIK ♦ Lilburne, Luck of Eden Hall ♦ These, Those ♦ WASHINGTON. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "farewell": valediction. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Farewell, Ethel Barrymore, I must tear myself from your side (Singin' in the Rain; writing credit: Betty Comden; Adolph Green) Well gentlemen, now that the moment has come to bid you farewell, I congratulate both you, Doctor, and you, Professor, on your brilliant work in the development of the submarine tracking system (The Spy Who Loved Me; writing credit: Christopher Wood) Farewell. (Toy Story; writing credit: John Lasseter; Andrew Stanton) What about the farewell drugs (Sid and Nancy; writing credit: Alex Cox; Abbe Wool) Farewell, Leicester Bloody Square (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; writing credit: Doreen Spicer) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Farewell the Seekers (1968) Young People's Concerts: Farewell to Nationalism (1964) Farewell Performance (1962) A Farewell to Arms (1957) Farewell Oak Street (1953) | |
Song Titles | Jamaica Farewell (performing artist: Harry Belafonte) Farewell to Ireland (performing artist: The Dalraida Brothers) The Last Farewell (performing artist: Roger Whittaker) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
Farewell to Spring (Clarkia amoena) at Upper Table Rock. Credit: Terry Tuttle. | ![]() | [Army Nurses share farewell cake]. Credit: National Library of Medicine. | |
![]() | [Scientific directors at Dr. Robert W. Berliner's farewell dinner]. Credit: National Library of Medicine. | ![]() | The farewell of the cow, rabbit, and kangaroo. Credit: Library of Congress. |
![]() | Father Time waving farewell to cowed woman. Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | Farewell, American soldiers!. Credit: Library of Congress. |
![]() | Farewell to the old church. Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | S.S. Majestic, outward bound, a last farewell. Credit: Library of Congress. |
![]() | Farewell to the Army. Warrenton, 1862. Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | Japanese-American volunteers. Our new combat soldiers. Here they are--nearly 3,000 new American soldiers of Japanese ancestry--assembled at Oilani Palace grounds, Honolulu, for the farewell ceremony honoring them en masse. The new soldiers marched from th. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "Little hedgehog" by Thomas Michael Burgey, Germany Commentary: "We found this little guy on the middle of the street in soller, mallorca, spain. the poor guy passed away that night. farewell, little iglesio!." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Author | Quotation |
Author Unknown | Those to whom we say farewell, are welcomed by others. |
Gaius Valerius Catullus | And forever, O my brother, hail and farewell! |
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu | While conscience is our friend, all is at peace; however once it is offended, farewell to a tranquil mind. |
Meleager | Farewell, Morning Star, herald of dawn, and quickly come as the Evening Star, bringing again in secret her whom thou takest away. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Tangled Tale | Carroll, Lewis | Here you go wrong in your arithmetic, and I must, however reluctantly, bid you farewell. |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | Jean Valjean went out, leaving Cosette astounded at that enigmatic farewell. |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | Farewell! O farewell |
King Richard III | Shakespeare, William | Bid me farewell. |
Gulliver's Travels | Swift, Jonathan | They pushed off immediately, advising me to make haste, for fear of being overtaken by the tide, and so bade me farewell. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Lyndon B. Johnson | 1963-1969 | I rejected and rejected and then finally accepted the congressional leadership's invitation to come here to speak this farewell to you in person tonight. |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | Douglas MacArthur made an unforgettable farewell to a country he had loved and served so well. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Farewell" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 88.53% of the time. "Farewell" is used about 714 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 |
| Noun (singular) | 88.53% | 632 | 10,281 |
| Interjection | 11.19% | 80 | 37,112 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.28% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 714 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "farewell": affectionate farewell ♦ bid a long farewell ♦ bid farewell ♦ bid farewell to ♦ bid smb. farewell ♦ did farewell to ♦ farewell celebration ♦ farewell dinner ♦ farewell lunch ♦ farewell party ♦ Farewell rock ♦ farewell speech ♦ farewell visit ♦ Interjection: farewell to! adieu to ♦ say farewell ♦ take one's farewell of ♦ throw a farewell party ♦ wave a farewell ♦ word of farewell. Additional references. | |
| 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. |
| Language | Translations for "farewell"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | afskeid (goodbye), adieu (adieu, bye, goodbye). (various references) | |
Albanian | udha e mbarë, nisje (blastoff, commencement, departure, despatch, dispatch, initiation, lift off, offset, outset, parting, sailing, start), ndahem (be divided, bust up, disunite, fall into, secede, split up), lamtumirë (adieu, cheerio, good bye, leave taking, vale, valediction, waygoing). (various references) | |
Arabic | فراق (departure, parting, separation), وداعي, وداعا (bye bye, cheerio, good bye, pip pip), وداع (good bye, vale, valediction), حفلة لتكريم فلان, توديع (leave taking, valediction). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | сбогуване (adieu, leave, leave taking, valediction), сбогом (adieu, good bye), на добър час (good luck), на добър път, прощавай, прощаване (adieu, leave, leave taking, parting, valediction), прощален (parting, valedictory). (various references) | |
Chinese | 送別 , 訣 (secrets), 告别. (various references) | |
Czech | rozlouèení (leave, parting, send off, valediction), rozchod (dismiss, fall out, Gage, gauge, parting, track gauge). (various references) | |
Danish | farvel (adieu, bye, goodbye, good-bye), afsked (goodbye, good-bye). (various references) | |
Dutch | vaarwel (adieu, bye, goodbye, good-bye), adieu (adieu, bye, goodbye, good-bye). (various references) | |
Esperanto | adiaŭo (goodbye, good-bye), adiaŭ (adieu, bye, goodbye, good-bye). (various references) | |
Faeroese | farvæl (adieu, bye, goodbye). (various references) | |
Finnish | jäähyväiset (parting), hyvästi (adieu, bye, goodbye, good-bye!), erojuhla, erojaisjuhla. (various references) | |
French | adieu. (various references) | |
Frisian | farwol (adieu, bye, goodbye), ôfskie (goodbye). (various references) | |
German | lebewohl (adieu, good bye, vale), Lebe wohl (adieu, bye, goodbye), adieu (adieu, bye, goodbye), abschied (dismissal, goodbye, leave, parting, resignation, valediction). (various references) | |
Greek | αντίο (adieu, cheerio, goodbye), αποχαιρετισμόσ (leave taking, valediction), αποχαιρετισμός. (various references) | |
Hebrew | להתראות (adieu, au revoir, be seen, cheerio, good bye, meet, so long), של פרידה, פרידה (departure, leave, parting), פרדה (departure, leave, leave taking, parting), היה שלום (good bye), צאתך לשלום. (various references) | |
Hungarian | búcsú (departure, good bye, goodbye, kermis, leave, leave taking, parting, quietus, saint's-day, send-off). (various references) | |
Icelandic | bless (adieu, bye, goodbye, so long). (various references) | |
Irish | slÚn (adieu, bye, goodbye), slán, beannacht (adieu, blessing, bye, goodbye). (various references) | |
Italian | addio (adieu, bye, bye bye, goodbye), congedo (disbandment, discharge, dismissal, furlough, goodbye, leave, release). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 送別 (send-off), 閑 (free time, leave, leisure, spare time), 見送り (escort, seeing one off), お別れ , 暇 (free time, leave, leisure, spare time), 暇 (free time, leave, leisure, spare time), 決別 (separation), さらけ出す (fluently, Mr or Mrs, murmuring, rustling, to confess, to disclose, to expose, to lay bare), あの方 (ah, airhead, ambiguous, cartoon character, contrary, fool, frankly, good-bye, he, inverse, kind of cookie, oaf, oh, opposite, saw-edged perch, she, that gentleman, to dandle, to fail in getting a job, uncertain, vague), 告別 (leave-taking), 別れ (parting, separation), 別れ (branch, division, fork, offshoot, parting, section, separation). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | おわかれ, そうべつ (generally, send-off), ひま (castor oil plant, free time, leave, leisure, spare time), さらば , かん (admiration, advise, appearance, best, building, can, cap, casket, coffin, cold season, coldest days of the year, crown, designating, diadem, emotion, emperor, encourage, feeling, first, free time, guesthouse, hall, heaven, hotel, house, impression, initiating on coming of age, inn, intuition, just, kan, leave, leisure, letter, look, love of peace, midwinter, naming, nerves, offer, peerless, perception, pipe, recommend, reel, right, sensation, spare time, spectacle, strong, temper, the sixth sense, tin, top character radical, trunk, tube, volume, warship, writing brush), いとま (free time, leave, leisure, spare time), こくべつ (leave-taking), あばよ (good-bye), わかれ (branch, division, fork, offshoot, parting, section, separation), けつべつ (parting, separation), みおくり (escort, seeing one off). (various references) | |
Korean | 작별. (various references) | |
Lombard | se vedom (adieu, bye, goodbye). (various references) | |
Manx | slane lhieu, slane ayd (adieu, ave, bye-bye, cheerio, good afternoon, good afternoon depart, good bye), bannaght lhiat (adieu, cheerio), aigh vie (fortune, good luck). (various references) | |
Norwegian | farvell, farvel (adieu, bye, goodbye, good-bye), morna (adieu, bye, goodbye), ha det (adieu, bye, goodbye), avskjed (dismissal). (various references) | |
Papiamen | tanten (adieu, bye, goodbye), so long (adieu, bye, goodbye), despedida (goodbye), ayo (adieu, bye, goodbye). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | arewellfay.(various references) | |
Polish | pożegnanie (goodbye), żegnaj (adieu, bye, goodbye). (various references) | |
Portuguese | adeus (adieu, bye, goodbye, good-bye, vale, valediction), despedida (adieu, dismissal, good-bye, parting, vale, valediction). (various references) | |
Romanian | vã las cu bine (good bye), rãmas bun (adieu, good bye, vale, valediction), mergi cu bine (good speed, I wish you a pleasant journey), la revedere (bye bye, cheerio, good bye, I hope soon to see you again, see you soon, so long, till next time), adio (adieu, all over, good bye, valediction). (various references) | |
Russian | прощаться (bid farewell, bid goodbye, take leave of), прощайте (adieu, vale), прощание прощальный, прощание (adieu, bye, good bye, leave, leave taking, leave-taking, parting, valediction). (various references) | |
Scottish | beannachd leibh (adieu, bye, goodbye), beannachd leat (adieu, bye, goodbye). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | zbogom (adieu, good bye), oproštaj (adieu, dispensation, forgiveness, good bye, parting, shrift, valediction). (various references) | |
Spanish | adiós (adieu, adios, by-by, bye, bye bye, cheerio, good bye, goodbye), despedida (adieu, discharge, good bye, goodbye, leave, parting, send off, valediction, valedictory). (various references) | |
Sranan | adyosi (adieu, bye, goodbye). (various references) | |
Swahili | kwa herini (adieu, bye, goodbye, good-bye), kwa heri (adieu, bye, goodbye, good-bye). (various references) | |
Swedish | avsked (discharge, dismissal, dismission, goodbye, leave, leave taking, leaving, parting, resignation, valediction), farväl (adieu, good bye, goodbye, valediction). (various references) | |
Thai | การกล่าวลา, ลาก่อน. (various references) | |
Turkish | veda (adieus, adieux, leave, parting, valediction, valedictory), uğurlar olsun, son (afterbirth, bedrock, close, conclusion, conclusive, curtains, definitive, denouement, end, ending, expiration, expiry, extremity, fate, final, finis, finish, finishing, full, full stop, issue, kiss off, last, late, latest, latter, nth, Omega, outcome, quietus, recent, result, ruination, secundine, sunset, supreme, tail end, terminal, termination, ultimate, upshot), gülegüle (adieu, bye, goodbye), güle güle (au revoir, ave, bye bye, good bye, goodbye, take care, take care of yourself), elveda (adieu, good bye, goodbye, goodday, Vale), allahaismarladik (adieu, bye, goodbye). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | прощатися (bid adieu, bid farewell, take adieu), прощавайте (adieu, good bye), прощання (adieu, adieus, good bye, leave, valediction), прощальний (parting, valedictory). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | lời tam biệt, buổi liên hoan chia tay lời chúc tạm biệt. (various references) | |
Welsh | ffarwel (adieu), ymadawol (valedictory). (various references) | |
Zulu | salani kahle (adieu, bye, goodbye), sala kahle (adieu, bye, goodbye), hambani kahle (adieu, bye, goodbye), hamba kahle (adieu, bye, goodbye). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | ave, supervalebit, valeat, valebant, valebat, valebit, valens, valent, valentes, valenti, valentibus, valet. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Luke Chapter 9, Verse 61 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Eipen de kai eteroV akolouqhsw soi kurie prwton de epitreyon moi apotaxasqai toiV eiV ton oikon mou |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Et ait alter sequar te Domine sed primum permitte mihi renuntiare his qui domi sunt |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | þa cwæð oðer ic fylige þe drihten: ac læt me æryst hit cyþan þam ðe æt ham synt; |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And another seide, Lord, Y schal sue thee, but first suffre me to leeue `alle thingis that ben at hoom. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | And another sayde: I wyll folowe the Lorde: but let me fyrst goo byd them fare well which are at home at my housse. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | And another man said, I will come with you, Lord, but first let me say a last good-day to those who are at my house. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Luke Chapter 9, Verse 61 |
| Cebuano | Ug dihay lain nga miingon kaniya, "Ginoo, mosunod ako kanimo, apan tugoti una ako sa pagpa-namilit kanila nga atua sa akong panimalay." |
| Croatian | I neki drugi reèe: "Za tobom æu, Gospodine, ali dopusti mi da se prije oprostim sa svojim ukuæanima." |
| Danish | Men også en anden sagde: "Herre! jeg vil følge dig; men tilsted mig først at tage Afsked med dem, som ere i mit Hus." |
| Dutch | En ook een ander zeide: Heere, ik zal U volgen; maar laat mij eerst toe, dat ik afscheid neme van degenen, die in mijn huis zijn. |
| Finnish | Vielä eräs toinen sanoi: "Minä tahdon seurata sinua, Herra; mutta salli minun ensin käydä ottamassa jäähyväiset kotiväeltäni". |
| French | Un autre dit: Je te suivrai, Seigneur, mais permets-moi d`aller d`abord prendre congé de ceux de ma maison. |
| German | Und ein anderer sprach: HERR, ich will dir nachfolgen; aber erlaube mir zuvor, daß ich einen Abschied mache mit denen, die in meinem Hause sind. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Ada juga seorang lain yang berkata, "Pak, saya mau mengikuti Bapak, tetapi izinkanlah saya pulang dahulu untuk pamit." |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Maka kata seorang yang lain pula, "Hamba hendak mengikut Tuhan; tetapi izinkanlah hamba pulang memberi selamat tinggal kepada seisi rumah hamba." |
| Latvian | Un cits sacîja: Es sekoðu Tev, Kungs, bet atïauj man vispirms atvadîties no tiem, kas mâjâs! |
| Manx Gaelic | As dooyrt fer elley myrgeddin rish Hiarn, eiyr-yms ort-agh lhig dou hoshiaght bannaght y aagail ec y vooinjer t'ec my hie. |
| Maori | Ka mea hoki tetahi atu, E te Ariki, ka aru ahau i a koe; otira tukua ahau kia matua poroporoaki ki te hunga i toku whare. |
| Norwegian | Også en annen sa: Jeg vil følge dig, Herre! men gi mig først lov til å si farvel til dem der hjemme! |
| Portuguese | Jesus, porém, lhe respondeu: Ninguém que lança mão do arado e olha para trás é apto para o reino de Deus. |
| Rumanian | Un altul a zis: ,,Doamne, Te voi urma, dar lasq-mq kntki sq mq duc sq-mi iau rqmas bun dela ai mei.`` |
| Russian | еЭЕ ДТХЗПК УЛБЪБМ: С РПКДХ ЪБ фПВПА, зПУРПДЙ! ОП РТЕЦДЕ РПЪЧПМШ НОЕ РТПУФЙФШУС У ДПНБЫОЙНЙ НПЙНЙ. |
| Shuar | Nuyá Chíkich Tímiayi "Uuntá, nemarsataj tusan wakerajme. Túrasha Wíi shuaran emka áujsan ikiuweartaj Tsankátrúktá" Tímiayi. |
| Spanish | Entonces también dijo otro: --Te seguiré, Señor, pero primero permite que me despida de los que están en mi casa. |
| Swahili | Na mtu mwingine akamwambia, "Nitakufuata, lakini niruhusu kwanza nikawaage wale walio nyumbani kwangu." |
| Swedish | Åter en annan sade: "Jag vill följa dig, Herre, men tillstäd mig att först taga avsked av dem som höra till mitt hus." |
| Uma | Ria wo'o kahadua-na mpo'uli' -ki Yesus: "Pue', dota moto-a mpotuku' -ko. Aga piliu-a ulu nculii' mpalakana hi ompi' -ku." |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "farewell": farewelled, farewelling, farewells. (additional references) | |
| |
"Farewell" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: faewell, Fairdell, fairwell, Falewesle, farewel, farewelled, firewell, Karswell. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "farewell" (pronounced fe'rwe"l) |
| 3 | -w e" l | dwell, swell, quell, well. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-e-f-l-l-r-w" | |
-1 letter: welfare. | |
-2 letters: faller, feller, refall, refell, reflew. | |
-3 letters: allee, farle, fella, feral, fewer, flare, fleer, laree, refel, wafer, waler. | |
-4 letters: alee, alef, awee, earl, ewer, fall, fare, farl, feal, fear, feel, fell, fere, flaw, flea, flee, flew, frae, free, leaf, leal, lear, leer, rale, real, reef, reel, wale, wall, ware, weal, wear, weel, weer. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-e-e-f-l-l-r-w" | |
+1 letter: farewells. | |
+2 letters: farewelled, firewalled. | |
+3 letters: farewelling. | |
+5 letters: blanketflower, caulifloweret. | |
| 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: Familiar 10. Quotations: Fiction 11. Quotations: Speeches 12. Usage Frequency | 13. Expressions 14. Expressions: Internet 15. Translations: Modern 16. Translations: Ancient | 17. Bible Trace 18. Derivations 19. Rhymes 20. Anagrams | 21. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.