Formule de salut și mulțumire în limba română

What does “pa” mean in Romanian?

When Romanians leave, the textbook line is la revedere (“goodbye”), but with friends and family they almost always say a quick pa — or the warmer, doubled pa-pa, like “bye-bye.” It is the everyday spoken farewell: light, affectionate, and slightly childlike. Learn it as the casual counterpart to la revedere, the way “bye” sits next to a stiff “farewell” in English.

The Romanian dictionary (DEX) traces pa to German pa / Hungarian pá rather than to Romance roots, which is why it feels so different from the Latinate la revedere. The reduplicated pa-pa adds tenderness — it is what you say to a child, a partner, or a close friend, and you will hear it ended with a wave. The clip lines the options up directly: leaving, you can say la revedere, pe curând (“see you soon”), or simply Pa! — a tidy map of Romanian goodbyes from formal to cosy.