Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

ciao

/t͡ʃaʊ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 2.81 in modern English

Syllables: ciao
IPA: /t͡ʃaʊ/

6

Scrabble Score

4

Letters

1

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

intj

Hello, hi.

intj

noun

A greeting or farewell using the word "ciao".

Example Sentences

"[…] he excused himself, disappearing in a cloud of ciaos and operatic Italian."
"You hear more ciaos than hellos. Guests play bocce ball on the beach and dine on Italian and some Bahamian cuisine. Because of its strong Continental overlay, the cuisine is better here than at your typical Grand Bahama hotel."

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian ciao (“hello, goodbye”), from Venetan ciao (“hello, goodbye, your (humble) servant”), from Venetan s-ciao / s-ciavo (“servant, slave”), from Medieval Latin sclavus (“Slav, slave”), related also to Italian schiavo, English Slav, slave and Old Venetan S-ciavón (“Slav”), from Latin Sclavus, ultimately from Proto-Slavic *slověninъ. Not related to Vietnamese chào (“hello, goodbye”). Doublet of Slav and slave.

Word Breakdown

Root: ciao, sclavus, *slověninъ

Inflected Forms

ciaos (plural)

Phrases

ciao bella

Synonyms

ciao good morning good day good evening good morrow greetings heaveno hello hello there heyday hi hi there

Homonyms

chow chao

Rhymes With

how now allow wow bow thou cow dow mao vow brow howe

Questions

How do you pronounce ciao?: The recorded pronunciation is /t͡ʃaʊ/.
What does ciao mean?: Hello, hi.
Where does ciao come from?: Borrowed from Italian ciao (“hello, goodbye”), from Venetan ciao (“hello, goodbye, your (humble) servant”), from Venetan s-ciao / s-ciavo (“servant, slave”), from Medieval Latin sclavus (“Slav, slave”), related also to Italian schiavo, English Slav, slave and Old Venetan S-ciavón (“Slav”), from Latin Sclavus, ultimately from Proto-Slavic *slověninъ. Not related to Vietnamese chào (“hello, goodbye”). Doublet of Slav and slave.

How to pronounce ciao

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “ciao”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/t͡ʃaʊ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “ciao”.
Repeat and practice — Say “ciao” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.