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Webster 1913 Edition

Vigil

Vig′il

,
Noun.
[OE.
vigile
, L.
vigilia
, from
vigil
awake, watchful, probably akin to E.
wake
: cf. F.
vigile
. See
Wake
,
Verb.
I.
, and cf.
Reveille
,
Surveillance
,
Vedette
,
Vegetable
,
Vigor
.]
1.
Abstinence from sleep, whether at a time when sleep is customary or not; the act of keeping awake, or the state of being awake; sleeplessness; wakefulness; watch.
“Worn out by the labors and vigils of many months.”
Macaulay.
Nothing wears out a fine face like the
vigils
of the card table and those cutting passions which attend them.
Addison.
2.
Hence, devotional watching; waking for prayer, or other religious exercises.
So they in heaven their odes and
vigils
tuned.
Milton.
Be sober and keep
vigil
,
The Judge is at the gate.
Neale (Rhythm of St. Bernard).
3.
(Eccl.)
(a)
Originally, the watch kept on the night before a feast.
(b)
Later, the day and the night preceding a feast.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the
vigil
feast his neighbors,
And say, “To-morrow is St. Crispian.”
Shakespeare
(c)
A religious service performed in the evening preceding a feast.
Vigils of flowers
or
Watchings of flowers
(Bot.)
,
a peculiar faculty belonging to the flowers of certain plants of opening and closing their petals at certain hours of the day.
[R.]

Webster 1828 Edition

Vigil

VIG'IL

,
Noun.
[L. vigilia, vigil, walking, watchful; vigilo, to watch. This is formed on the root of Eng. wake. The primary sense is to stir or excite, to rouse, to agitate.]
1.
Watch; devotion performed in the customary hours of rest or sleep.
So they in heav'n their odes and vigils tun'd.
2.
In church affairs, the eve or evening before any feast, the ecclesiastical day beginning at 6:00 in the evening, and continuing till the same hour the following evening; hence, a religious service performed in the evening preceding a holiday.
3.
A fast observed on the day preceding a holiday; a wake.
4.
Watch; forbearance of sleep; as the vigils of the card table.
Vigils or watchings of flowers, a term used by Linne to express a peculiar faculty belonging to the flowers of certain plants, of opening and closing their petals at certain hours of the day

Definition 2024

vigil

vigil

English

Noun

vigil ‎(plural vigils)

  1. An instance of keeping awake during normal sleeping hours, especially to keep watch or pray.
  2. A period of observation or surveillance at any hour.
    His dog kept vigil outside the hospital for eight days while he was recovering from an accident.
  3. The eve of a religious festival in which staying awake is part of the ritual devotions.
  4. A quiet demonstration in support of a cause.
    The protesters kept vigil outside the conference centre in which the party congress was being held.

Synonyms

Related terms

Translations

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *weǵ- ‎(“to be strong”), whence vigeō.

Pronunciation

  • (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈwi.ɡil/, [ˈwɪ.ɡɪɫ]

Adjective

vigil

  1. awake, watching, alert

Noun

vigil m ‎(genitive vigilis); third declension

  1. watchman, sentinel
  2. (in the plural) the watch, police

Inflection

Third declension.

Case Singular Plural
nominative vigil vigilēs
genitive vigilis vigilum
dative vigilī vigilibus
accusative vigilem vigilēs
ablative vigile vigilibus
vocative vigil vigilēs

Derived terms

Descendants

References

Etymology

Middle English vigile ‎(“a devotional watching”), from Old French vigile, from Latin vigilia ‎(“wakefulness, watch”), from vigil ‎(“awake”), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵ- ‎(“to be strong”).

Related to vigor, and more distantly compare vis and vital, from similar Proto-Indo-European roots and meanings (lively, power, life), via Latin. For use of “live, alive” in sense “watching”, compare qui vive.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈvɪdʒəl/
  • Rhymes: -ɪdʒəl

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