Etymologically
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vacation

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /vəˈkeɪ.ʃən/, US /veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, /vəˈkeɪ.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English vacacioun, borrowed from Middle French vacation and directly from Latin vacātiō (“freedom, exemption, immunity”),[2][3][4] from the past participle of vacāre (“to be empty, free, at leisure”).[2][3][5] It is related to vacant, vacancy and vacate.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Freedom or rest from some occupation: about 1386 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline.[6][2]

Semantic evolution

People in the Middle Ages had no holidays in the modern sense; vacation was simply freedom from work.[5] The meanings “state of being unoccupied” and “vacating” are from the early 15th century.[2] A formal suspension of activity, the time between terms when law courts and universities close, is from about 1456.[6][2] As the American word for a holiday it is from 1878.[6][2] The verb, to take a vacation, is from 1866.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1386 – rest from work.[6]
  • c. 1456 – the time when courts or universities close.[6]
  • 1866 – the verb.[2]
  • 1878 – a holiday (US).[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (chiefly US) A period of rest from work or study, often spent travelling; a holiday.
  2. (chiefly British) A period when universities or law courts are closed.
  3. The act of leaving a place or giving up a position.

Verb

  1. (chiefly US) To take a holiday.

Word family

  • vacationer
  • vacationless
  • minivacation
  • prevacation
  • vacationist
  • vacationland
  • long vacation
  • Vacation Bible School
  • vacate
  • vacant
  • vacancy

Usage notes

In North America vacation is the usual word for time off work, while a holiday is usually a particular public holiday such as Thanksgiving; in Britain holiday covers both.[5][7]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins