Ave is a Latin word, used by the Romans as a salutation and greeting, meaning "hail". It is the singular imperative form of the verb avēre, which meant "to be well"; thus one could translate it literally as "be well" or "farewell". The Classical Latin pronunciation of ave was [ˈaweː] or [ˈaβeː]. In Church Latin, it is ideally [ˈave], and in English, it tends to be pronounced /ˈɑːveɪ/. Fascist regimes during the 20th century also adopted the greeting. It was also distinctly used during the National Socialist Third Reich in the indirect German translation, heil.