Link Centre Dictionary

valedictory

va·le·dic·tory

UK/ˌvælɪˈdɪktəɹi/ US/ˌvælɪˈdɪktɹi/ uncommon us
adjective (2) noun (1)

adjective

1.

of or relating to an occasion or expression of farewell

  • “a valedictory address”
  • “valedictory praise for his uniformly manly course”
  • “a suitable valedictory gesture”
2.

of a speech expressing leave-taking

  • “a valedictory address”
Similar

noun

1.

a farewell oration delivered by the most outstanding member of a graduating class

Synonyms

Origin

From Latin valedictum + English -ory (suffix forming nouns meaning ‘that which pertains to’, or adjectives meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). Valedictum is the accusative supine of valedīcō (“to bid farewell; to give a valediction”), from valē (“farewell, goodbye”) (the imperative of valeō (“to be healthy or well; to be strong; to have influence or power”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“powerful, strong; to rule”)) + dīcō (“to say, speak”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to point out”)). By surface analysis, valedict + -ory.

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Pertaining to

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.