How did the words “byebye” came to be used as a farewell gesture? When was its first use in english?
GoodBye (as you may already know) is a contraction of “God be with ye”
But that doesn’t answer your question, sorry.
According to the OED, “byebye” predates “goodbye.”
(Interesting that Shakespeare is the first to use it in this sense.)
And Finally:
So it looks like:
- “Bye-bye” was a nursery term meaning “go to sleep.”
- Some time later, “God be with you” was contracted to “goodbye.”
- “Bye-bye,” already used in a similar context, took on the meaning of “goodbye.”
Man, the OED is a wonder!
No question, the OED is the best. And if you have a Los Angeles Public Library card, you can use the OED on the internet, free, by entering your card number. I imagine other library systems also have this excellent arrangement.
The Chicago Public Library discontinued the online OED earlier this year. 