valediction

valediction \val-uh-DIK-shuhn\, noun:

the action of bidding farewell; a farewell

The playing of taps was a special moment in the ceremony, a final, haunting valediction for the men who had made the supreme sacrifice.
-- John Glenn, John Glenn: A Memoir

Few careers have such self-appointed endings, and his speech was a fine valediction.
-- Howard's dignified end, Daily Telegraph, 37170

At the end, they sobbed farewell to an old friend who gives a beautiful valediction.
-- Richard Corliss, Martial Masterpiece, Time Asia, 35255

by 1614, from Latin valedicere "bid farewell," from vale, imperative form of valere "be well" + dicere "to say"