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さらば Japanese meaning | Kotomora
Common word Freq. Frequency Top 20,000 Meanings 1
interjection
farewell ; goodbye
usually written using kana alone
Archaic or highly formal parting word; in modern Japanese it sounds theatrical, literary, or old-fashioned. Not used in everyday conversation.
Written forms さらば Usage 100%
Standard kana spelling; the kanji form 然らば is rare and mostly historical.
然さ らば
rarely-used kanji form
Rare kanji form; learners will almost always encounter the kana spelling.
Kanji 然 sort of thing, so, if so dated term
Dated conjunction used in formal or written contexts; equivalent to modern それなら or だったら. Often seen in older literature or formal arguments.
さようなら
Standard modern goodbye; さらば is much more archaic and dramatic.
それなら Common modern equivalent for the conjunction sense; さらば is dated and formal.
Etymology Derived from classical Japanese 然らば (さらば), originally a conditional form of 然り (さり, 'to be so'). The interjection use developed from the conjunction sense.