Sabbath

[sab-uhth]

noun

1. the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, Saturday, as the day of rest and religious observance among Jews and some Christians.

2. the Sabbath, the first day of the week, Sunday, observed by most Christians as a day of public worship and often of rest.

3. any special day of prayer, worship, or rest.

4. Often sabbath a day or other period of rest or break from certain forms of activity.

   If people gave themselves a weekly sabbath from electronic devices, it would probably cure many ills.

5. Sometimes sabbath Sabbat.

Sabbath

/ ˈsæbəθ /

noun

1. the seventh day of the week, Saturday, devoted to worship and rest from work in Judaism and in certain Christian Churches

2. Sunday, observed by Christians as the day of worship and rest from work in commemoration of Christ's Resurrection

3. (not capital) a period of rest

4. Also called: sabbat.  witches' Sabbath. a midnight meeting or secret rendezvous for practitioners of witchcraft, sorcery, or devil worship

Sabbath

1. The holy day of rest and reflection observed each Saturday among the Jews. This custom fulfills the fourth of the Ten Commandments (“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy”). The Sabbath commemorates the last of the seven days of Creation as described in the Book of Genesis, the day God rested from his labors of creating the heavens and the Earth.

Christians have traditionally kept Sunday as a weekly day of rest in adaptation of the Jewish observance, and in commemoration of the Resurrection of Jesus. Some denominations, such as the Seventh-Day Adventists, observe Saturday as the Sabbath.

Other Word Forms

• Sabbathless adjective
• Sabbathlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Sabbath¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English sabat, sabadt, sabath, Old English sabat, from Latin sabbatum, from Greek sábbaton, from Hebrew shabbāth “rest”

Word History and Origins

Origin of Sabbath¹

Old English sabbat, from Latin sabbatum, from Greek sabbaton, from Hebrew shabbāth, from shābath to rest

Example Sentences

The Black Sabbath singer made his stage persona a symbol of everything parents dreaded.

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At the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in 2002, he proudly recalls, President George W. Bush revealed that his mother, the beloved Silver Fox, “was a huge Sabbath fan.”

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Instead of the typical rock-star tale that relives the glory days and gives short shrift to the rest, the former Black Sabbath frontman chose to lay bare his recent medical struggles in grisly detail.

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So, with the new material, which, according to Wylde, is influenced by Osbourne, Sabbath and all the music he loves, he sat down with The Times exclusively to remember his friend.

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Osbourne died in July, aged 76, weeks after Sabbath's farewell show.

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Related Words

• day off 
• rest day www.thesaurus.com