# Godspeed
## English
### Alternative forms

* God-speed, God speed, godspeed, good speed

### Etymology

From Middle English god spede, god speid (“(adverb) quickly, speedily; (interjection) may God cause (someone) to succeed”), from god, God (“(Christianity) God; the Eucharist; non-Christian god or goddess; idol; deity, divine being; person or thing honoured as a god”) (from Old English god (“god”)) + sped, spede, the singular subjunctive of speden (“to achieve one’s goal; to succeed (in something); to fare, get along; to conduct oneself well; to do well, prosper, thrive; to turn out well; to be advantageous, avail; to be of benefit or useful; to assist, help; to help (someone) be successful; to do or complete (something); to travel rapidly; to progress”) (from Old English spēdan (“to succeed”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *speh₁- (“to prosper, succeed”)).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˌɡɒdˈspiːd/
* (General American) IPA: /ˌɡɑdˈspid/
* Audio (General American):(file)
* Rhymes: -iːd
* Hyphenation: God‧speed

### Interjection

Godspeed
* (literary) Used, especially at a parting, to express the wish that the outcome of a person's actions be positive for them; typically said to someone who is about to start a journey or a daring endeavour.
    Synonyms: all the best, (archaic) fare thee well, farewell, goodbye, good luck
** c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 184, column 2:3 [Citizen]. Neighbours, God ſpeed. / 1 [Citizen]. Giue you good morrovv ſir.
** 1604, Thomas Dekker, Thomas Middleton, “The Honest Whore, […]”, in The Dramatic Works of Thomas Dekker […], volume II, London: John Pearson […], published 1873, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 80:Duke. God ſpeed father. / 1. Mad[man]. God ſpeed the Plough, thou ſhalt not ſpeed me.
** 1927, M[ohandas] K[aramchand] Gandhi, “Preparation for England”, in Mahadev Desai, transl., The Story of My Experiments with Truth: Translated from the Original in Gujarati, volume I, Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Navajivan Press, →OCLC, part I, page 95:At the threshold of death, how dare I give you permission to go to England, to cross the seas? But I will not stand in your way. It is your mother's permission which really matters. If she permit you, then godspeed! Tell her I will not interfere. You will go with my blessings.
** 1962 February 20, Scott Carpenter, quotee, “Godspeed, John Glenn”, in USA Today‎, McLean, Va.: Gannett Co., published 8 December 2016, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-07-09:So all of America watched at 9:47 a.m. on Feb. 20, 1962, as [John] Glenn took off from Cape Canaveral. Scott Carpenter, backup astronaut for the mission, famously said: "Godspeed, John Glenn."
** 2007 May 12, Peter Steinfels, “At commencement, a call for religious literacy”, in The New York Times‎, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-11-26:So, class of 2007, join in. And godspeed.
** 2008, Ron Benrey, Janet Benrey, chapter 14, in Season of Glory (Love Inspired Suspense), New York, N.Y.: Steeple Hill Books, →ISBN, page 155:Thanks, Gordie. May you live long and stay well, too. Godspeed.

#### Related terms

* God bless you
* God forbid
* godsend
* God willing

#### See also

* well-wisher

### Noun

Godspeed (countable and uncountable, plural Godspeeds) (literary)
* (uncountable) The wishing of someone a smooth journey, or success, especially at a parting; (countable) a statement expressing this.
** 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, 2 John:[10–11], folio ccc, recto:Yff there come eny vnto you and brynge not this learnynge⸝ hym receave not to houſſe: nether bid hym god ſpede. For he that biddeth hym God ſpede⸝ is part taker off his evyll dedes.
** 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, page 18:Then Chriſtian took his leave of his Friend, and he again bid him God ſpeed.
** 1696 November (first performance), [John Vanbrugh], The Relapse; or, Virtue in Danger: […], [London]: […] Samuel Briscoe […], published 1697, →OCLC, Act V, scene ii, page 90:Ber[inthia]. Speed her vvell. / VVor[thy]. Ay, but there muſt be more than a God ſpeed, or your Charity vvon't be vvorth a farthing.
** 1848, Acton Bell [pseudonym; Anne Brontë], “The Warnings of Experience”, in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. […], volume I, London: T[homas] C[autley] Newby, […], →OCLC, page 279:He never danced himself, and there he sat, poking his head in my face, and impressing all the beholders with the idea that he was a confirmed, acknowledged lover; my aunt looking complacently on, all the time, and wishing him God-speed.
** 1875 January–December, Henry James, Jr., “Rowland”, in Roderick Hudson, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co., published 1876, →OCLC, page 28:[I]n the morning, as Rowland at the garden gate was giving his hostess Godspeed on her way to church, he came striding along the grassy margin of the road and out-whistling the music of the church bells.
** 1884 November 1, “Thon”, in J[eanette] L[eonard], J[oseph] B[enson] Gilder, editors, The Critic: A Literary Weekly, Critical and Eclectic, volume II, number 44, New York, N.Y.: The Good Literature Publishing Co., →OCLC, page 210, column 1:Mr. C[harles] C[rozat] Converse's new pronoun [thon] of the singular number and common gender has met with a warm welcome from philologists and the press. […] The new word has received a number of godspeeds, some of which we quote.
** 1904–1907 (date written), James Joyce, “A Little Cloud”, in Dubliners, London: Grant Richards, published June 1914, →OCLC, page 84:Eight years before he had seen his friend off at the North Wall and wished him godspeed.
* (countable, figuratively)
** (archaic) Chiefly in in the Godspeed of: the most important part of something, or point at which something happens; also, the last minute or last moment.
*** 1667, Francisco de Quevedo Villegas, “The Sixth Vision of Hell”, in R[oger] L[’Estrange], transl., The Visions of Dom Francisco de Quevedo Villegas, […], London: […] H[enry] Herringman […], →OCLC, page 247:But a Devil came in juſt in the God-ſpeed, and told them; Gentlemen Philoſophers, (ſays he) if you vvould knovv the VVretched'ſt, and moſt contemptible thing in the VVorld; It is an Alchymiſt: […]
*** 1688, Roger L’Estrange, “Bedloe and Prance Swore to the Plot as well as to the Murther”, in A Brief History of the Times, &c. Part III. Treating of the Death of Sir E[dmund] B[erry] Godfrey, London: […] R. Sare, […], →OCLC, part I, page 19:But juſt in the Godſpeed, the Plot vvas Diſcover'd.
*** 1941, Flora Thompson, “‘A Bit of a Tell’”, in Lark Rise to Candleford: A Trilogy, London: Penguin Books, published 1945 (1973 printing), →ISBN, page 291:I udn't mind seeing her come in when I was in the godspeed of washday, and that's saying something.Originally published in Over to Candleford (1941).
** (originally Ireland) In back of Godspeed: a distant, remote, or unknown place.
    Synonym: back of beyond
*** 1858, Anthony Trollope, “Frank Gresham’s First Speech”, in Doctor Thorne. […], volume I, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 124:If I don't leave you at the back of God-speed before long, I'll give you the mare and the horse too.
*** 1908 (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, “Getting Married”, in The Doctor’s Dilemma, Getting Married, & The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet, London: Constable and Company, published 1911, →OCLC, page 278:mrs george. I have earned the right to speak. I have dared: I have gone through: I have not fallen withered into the fire: I have come at last out beyond, to the back of Godspeed. / the bishop. And what do you see there, at the back of Godspeed?

#### Translations
### References

* ↑ “gọ̄d spẹ̄de, gọ̄̆d-spẹ̄de, phr. & n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
* 1 2 “[god] spede” under “God, god, n.(1)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
* ↑ “spẹ̄den, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
* ↑ Compare “Godspeed, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2022; “Godspeed, excl.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

### Further reading

* Godspeed (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia