Le origini della parola italiana ciao
B1 Italian listening practice · Italian · Curated for intermediate learners
What is the origin of the Italian word “ciao”?
The world’s friendliest Italian word started out as a bow. Ciao comes from the Venetian s-ciào vostro, “(I am) your servant,” where s-ciào descends from the same Latin root (sclavus) that gives Italian schiavo, “slave.” It was a humble pledge of devotion — “I’m at your service.” Over centuries the servility wore off and only the warmth remained, leaving the breezy “hi” and “bye” used everywhere today.
The greeting turns up in 18th-century Venetian theatre: in Goldoni’s La locandiera a character signs off with amici, vi sono schiavo — “friends, I am your servant.” The same logic survives in the German-speaking servus, also literally “servant,” from Latin. Ciao only entered standard Italian around the start of the 20th century, and it stays strictly informal — reserve buongiorno or salve for people you don’t know.