Bye is a farewell interjection and means “goodbye” or “see you later”. The gesture made with the hand as a sign of farewell is also called "bye".
The term originates from the Italian language, more specifically from the Venetian dialect (a variant of Italian spoken in the region of Venice, Italy).
The sound of the Italian word “ciao” (whose pronunciation is similar to “bye”) began to be used by Brazilians through Italian immigrants, people who have a large community in Brazil.
In Italy, the origin of the word “ciao” is curious. “Ciao” is the short form of the phrase “Io sleep your schiavo”, which literally means in Portuguese “I am your slave”. A more current translation would be: “I am at your orders” or, even, “I am slavishly at your orders”.
In the dialect spoken of in Venice in the Middle Ages, the word “schiavo” (slave, servant) sounded like “key”. It was a form of reverence and chivalry to greet or say goodbye with the phrase "Io sleep your schiavo”.
The expression reached other regions of Italy and, with time and usage, simplified and gained the pronunciation of the current term “ciao”. In Italy the informal greeting “
take care” is used as a form of greeting on arrival and also as an expression of farewell.