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

For several agonizing minutes, they sit together saying nothing, as Black Sabbath’s mystical ballad “Solitude” plays softly on the stereo.

From Los Angeles Times

Think about it, when we got together in 1988, heavy metal itself was barely 20 years old, with Black Sabbath coming out around 1968.

From Los Angeles Times

"The only thing that was terribly frustrating for me, I had to sit there instead of running across the stage," the former Black Sabbath frontman said.

From BBC

Osbourne's widow Sharon and children Aimee, Jack and Kelly visited floral tributes laid at Black Sabbath bridge following his death on 22 July in a cortege that weaved through the streets of his home city.

From BBC

The planned original transmission would have taken place less than a month after the former Black Sabbath frontman's death at the age of 76.

From BBC

Related Words

• day off 
• rest day www.thesaurus.com