valediction
Americannoun
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an act of bidding farewell or taking leave.
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an utterance, oration, or the like, given in bidding farewell or taking leave; valedictory.
noun
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the act or an instance of saying goodbye
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any valedictory statement, speech, etc
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.
Vocabulary lists containing valediction
Things Fall Apart
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Novel Study: Brave New World, Chapters 13–18
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Atonement
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It’s all combining in a season of valediction for the eternal misfit whose life and career recently got the documentary treatment in “Let the Canary Sing” on Paramount+.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 8, 2025
The service will end with the final commendation and valediction, marking the beginning of nine days of mourning for the Pope, the Catholic news agency reported.
From BBC • Apr. 22, 2025
As a young postdoctoral student, David McKay was in the audience at Rice University in September 1962 when JFK had given his famous "We choose to go to the Moon" valediction.
From Salon • Jun. 13, 2020
It is a valediction, forbidding mourning, to British pre-eminence and self-regard.
From New York Times • Nov. 6, 2019
There were more prayers, a psalm, the Lord’s Prayer and another long one in which the falling tones of valediction gathered into a melancholy finality.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
