valediction

American  

[val-i-dik-shuhn] / ˌvæl ɪˈdɪk ʃən /

noun

1. an act of bidding farewell or taking leave.

2. an utterance, oration, or the like, given in bidding farewell or taking leave; valedictory.

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valediction British  

/ ˌvælɪˈdɪkʃən /

noun

1. the act or an instance of saying goodbye

2. any valedictory statement, speech, etc

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Etymology

Origin of valediction

1605–15; < Latin valedictiōn- (stem of valedictiō ), equivalent to valedict ( us ), past participle of valedīcere ( vale farewell + dictus, past participle of dīcere to say) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

A valediction is a speech that wishes a group of people farewell. It's most commonly given at graduations. The word diction in valediction is a clue that this word has to do with speaking, since it comes from the Latin root dicere, "to say." When combined with valere, "be well," the result is valedicere, "bid farewell." Just about any type of school that has a graduation ceremony will have a valediction, which typically congratulates students on their accomplishments and inspires them to look ahead.

Example Sentences

The Shapira text — which Dershowitz calls the Valediction of Moses, or V — differs from canonical Deuteronomy in a number of striking ways.

From New York Times • Mar. 10, 2021

The high school produced a second yearbook, Valediction 1945, summing up its years in camp.

From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston

For, though mind be the heaven, where love may sit, Beauty a convenient type may be to figure it, he writes, in the Valediction to his Book, thus giving formal expression to his heresy.

From Figures of Several Centuries by Symons, Arthur

But with that happy Valediction for one night, that Elias the Artist hath left me most sad in expectation unto this very day.

From The Golden Calf, Which the World Adores, and Desires by Helvetius, John Frederick

And in John Donne's "A Valediction: of my Name in the Window," we find two lovers in a situation reminiscent of that of the scene I previously quoted from Moll Flanders.

From The Merry-Thought: or the Glass-Window and Bog-House Miscellany. Part 1 by Guffey, George R.