Farewell, n.
1. A wish of happiness or welfare at parting; the parting compliment; a good-by; adieu.
2. Act of departure; leave-taking; a last look at, or reference to something. And takes her farewell of the glorious sun. Shak. Before I take my farewell of the subject. Addison.
2 other Webster entries under this spelling
Farewell, interj.
Go well; good-by; adieu; -- originally applied to a person departing, but by custom now applied both to those who depart and those who remain. It is often separated by the pronoun; as, fare you well; and is sometimes used as an expression of separation only; as, farewell the year; farewell, ye sweet groves; that is, I bid you farewell. So farewell hope, and with hope, farewell fear. Milton. Fare thee well! and if forever, Still forever fare thee well. Byron.
Note: The primary accent is sometimes placed on the first syllable, especially in poetry.
Farewell, a.
Parting; valedictory; final; as, a farewell discourse; his farewell bow. Leans in his spear to take his farewell view. Tickell. Farewell rock (Mining), the Millstone grit; -- so called because no coal is found worth working below this stratum. It is used for hearths of furnaces, having power to resist intense heat. Ure.
Shades of meaning
Good-by is the homely and hearty, farewell the formal English word at parting. Adieu, from the French, is still more ceremonious than farewell; conge, also from the French, is commonly contemptuous or supercilious, and equivalent to dismissal. Valediction is a learned word never in popular use. A valedictory is a public farewell to a company or assembly.
Prepositions
I bade farewell to my comrades, or (without preposition) I bade my comrades farewell; I took a sad farewell of my friends.