Etymologically
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vacance

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /va.kɑ̃s/[1]

Forms

vacance f (plural vacances)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French vacant + -ance.[2][3][4][5][6] Wiktionary forms it on vaquer instead, and Littré traces it to Medieval Latin vacantia.[1][7] “Vacant” was borrowed from Latin vacāns, the present participle of vacō (“to be empty, be free”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Anglo-Norman letters of 1305–1307 speak of tens vacaunce de Abbesse, a time when an abbey had no abbess, the state of an office without a holder.[2][8]

Semantic evolution

A legal text of 1531 has vacance de la foy “lack of faith”.[3][5] In 1594 the plural vacances was the period when the courts stopped sitting, and soon after a day of rest (1596, singular).[2][6] School holidays are vacances in Sorel's Francion (1623), and the plural meant time off work in general from 1669.[2][6]

The singular kept the sense “vacancy”: vacance du saint siège (1643), vacance du trône (1719) and a post to be filled (1830); Huysmans (1884) speaks of the vacance of an empty mind.[2] The Académie noted in 1778 that the singular was also used for a day off, but by 1878 only “sometimes”.[2]

Timeline

  • 1305–1307 – Vacaunce, an office without a holder.[2]
  • 1594 – Vacances of the courts.[2]
  • 1596 – A day of rest, Hulsius.[2]
  • 1623 – School holidays, Sorel.[2]
  • 1643 – Vacance du saint siège.[2]
  • 1830 – A vacant post.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (plural) Holidays, vacation: partir en vacances, les grandes vacances, vacances scolaires.[6][1]
  2. (plural, law) The recess of the courts: vacances judiciaires.[6]
  3. (singular) A vacancy, the state of a post or office without a holder: la vacance du pouvoir.[4][1]
  4. (literary) Emptiness: la vacance de l'esprit.[2][4]

Word family

  • vacancier
  • vacant
  • vaquer
  • vacation

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)