English word ciao comes from Italian dialect form of schiavo (meaning: "(I am your) slave"), from Medieval Latin sclavus (slave), which in turn comes from Byzantine Greek Σκλᾰ́βος (Sklábos, meaning Slav - allegedly because Slavs were often forced into slavery) and ultimately from Proto-Slavic *slověninъ (Slav)
| Dictionary entry | Language | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| *slověninъ | Proto-Slavic (sla-pro) | Slav. |
| словенинъ | Church Slavic (chu) | |
| Σκλαβῆνος | Ancient Greek (grc) | Slav |
| Σλαβῆνος | Ancient Greek (grc) | Slav |
| Sclavus | Late Latin (LL) | Slav |
| sclavus | Latin (lat) | Slave. Allegedly because Slavs were often forced into slavery |
| s-ciavo | Venetian (vec) | (I am your) slave |
| ciao | Venetian (vec) | Lit. slave. Meaning: hello! |
| ciao | Italian (it) | Hello!. Goodbye!. |
| ciao | English (en) | A greeting or farewell using the word "ciao". Bye, goodbye.. Hello, hi. |