Adjacent Words

Vacation definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

VACA'TION, n. [L. vacatio.]
1. The act of making void, vacant, or of no validity; as the vacation of a charter.
2. Intermission of judicial proceedings; the space of time between the end of one term and the beginning of the next; non-term.
3. The intermission of the regular studies and exercises of a college or other seminary, when the students have a recess.
4. Intermission of a stated employment.
5. The time when a see or other spiritual dignity is vacant.
During the vacation of a bishopric, the dean and chapter are guardians of the spiritualities.
6. Leisure; freedom from trouble or perplexity. [Now little used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure; "we get two weeks of vacation every summer"; "we took a short holiday in Puerto Rico" [syn: vacation, holiday]
2: the act of making something legally void v
1: spend or take a vacation [syn: vacation, holiday]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle English vacacioun, from Anglo-French vacacion, from Latin vacation-, vacatio freedom, exemption, from vacare Date: 14th century 1. a respite or a time of respite from something ; intermission 2. a. a scheduled period during which activity (as of a court or school) is suspended b. a period of exemption from work granted to an employee 3. a period spent away from home or business in travel or recreation <had a restful vacation at the beach> 4. an act or an instance of vacating II. intransitive verb (-tioned; vacationing) Date: 1883 to take or spend a vacation <vacationed at the shore> • vacationer noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a fixed period of cessation from work, esp. in universities and lawcourts. 2 US a holiday. 3 the act of vacating (a house or post etc.). --v.intr. US take a holiday. Phrases and idioms: vacation land US an area providing attractions for holidaymakers. Derivatives: vacationer n. vacationist n. Etymology: ME f. OF vacation or L vacatio (as VACATE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Vacation Va*ca"tion, n. [F., fr. L. vacatio a being free from a duty, service, etc., fr. vacare. See Vacate.] 1. The act of vacating; a making void or of no force; as, the vacation of an office or a charter. 2. Intermission of a stated employment, procedure, or office; a period of intermission; rest; leisure. It was not in his nature, however, at least till years had chastened it, to take any vacation from controversy. --Palfrey. Hence, specifically: (a) (Law) Intermission of judicial proceedings; the space of time between the end of one term and the beginning of the next; nonterm; recess. ``With lawyers in the vacation.'' --Shak. (b) The intermission of the regular studies and exercises of an educational institution between terms; holidays; as, the spring vacation. (c) The time when an office is vacant; esp. (Eccl.), the time when a see, or other spiritual dignity, is vacant.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(vacations, vacationing, vacationed) 1. A vacation is a period of the year when universities and colleges, and in the United States also schools, are officially closed. During his summer vacation he visited Russia... = holiday N-COUNT 2. A vacation is a period of time during which you relax and enjoy yourself away from home. (AM; in BRIT, use holiday) They planned a late summer vacation in Europe... We went on vacation to Puerto Rico. N-COUNT: also on/from N 3. If you have a particular number of days' or weeks' vacation, you do not have to go to work for that number of days or weeks. (AM; in BRIT, use holiday) 4. If you are vacationing in a place away from home, you are on vacation there. (AM; in BRIT, use holiday) Myles vacationed in Jamaica... He was vacationing and couldn't be reached for comment. VERB: V prep/adv, V

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Intermission. 2. Holidays.

Moby Thesaurus

AWOL, Christmas, French leave, Sunday, abeyance, abolishment, abolition, abrogation, abscondence, absence, absence without leave, absentation, absenteeism, absenting, annulment, break, breathing space, caesura, cancel, canceling, cancellation, cassation, cease-fire, coffee break, countermand, counterorder, cut, day off, default, defeasance, departure, disappearance, downtime, drop, escape, excused absence, fleeing, furlough, go on furlough, go on leave, half time, half-time intermission, hesitation, holiday, hooky, interim, interlude, intermezzo, intermission, intermittence, interregnum, interruption, interval, invalidation, lapse, layoff, leave, leave of absence, leaving, letup, liberty, lull, make holiday, nonappearance, nonattendance, nullification, off-time, paid holiday, paid vacation, pause, plateau, point of repose, quiet spell, recall, recantation, recess, relief, remission, renege, repeal, rescinding, rescindment, rescission, respite, rest, resting point, retraction, reversal, revocation, revoke, revokement, running away, sabbatical, sabbatical leave, sabbatical year, setting aside, shore leave, sick leave, stand-down, stay, suspension, take a holiday, take leave, time off, time out, truancy, truantism, truce, unexcused absence, vacatur, voidance, voiding, waiver, waiving, weekend, withdrawal, write-off