Sabbatical

Sometimes Sab·bat·ic

[suh-bat-i-kuhl]

adjective

1. of or pertaining or appropriate to the Sabbath.

2. (lowercase),  of or relating to a sabbatical year.

3. (lowercase),  bringing a period of rest.

noun

1. (lowercase),  sabbatical year.

2. (lowercase),  any extended period of leave from one's customary work, especially for rest, to acquire new skills or training, etc.

sabbatical

¹

/ səˈbætɪkəl /

adjective

1. denoting a period of leave granted to university staff, teachers, etc, esp approximately every seventh year

   a sabbatical year

   sabbatical leave

2. denoting a post that renders the holder eligible for such leave

noun

1. any sabbatical period

Sabbatical

²

/ səˈbætɪkəl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or appropriate to the Sabbath as a day of rest and religious observance

noun

1. short for sabbatical year

Other Word Forms

• Sabbatically adverb
• Sabbaticalness noun
• non-Sabbatic adjective
• non-Sabbatical adjective
• non-Sabbatically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of Sabbatical¹

First recorded in 1605–15; equivalent to Greek sabbatikós (from sábbat(on) Sabbath + -ikos -ic ) + -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of Sabbatical¹

C16: from Greek sabbatikos; see _Sabbath

Example Sentences

Sam and Yash have been housesitting for one of their professors while he is on sabbatical overseas.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Pulisic had the courage to do what was right for himself last summer, just as Donovan did when he took his much-criticized sabbatical from soccer in 2013.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In fact, it wasn’t until Cocker went off to college to study filmmaking at Central Saint Martins — taking a sabbatical from Pulp and then returning in 1991 — that the band was asked to play a concert in ’92 and gained some traction.

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“I should have said I’m going to take a sabbatical, because I had no idea what was going to happen in the future,” Townshend says.

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Mansell, Prost and Alonso all had breaks before their final blast in F1 - Mansell went to IndyCar for a couple of years, Prost had an enforced sabbatical, and Alonso took two years off to explore other categories.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• furlough 
• leave of absence 
• recess 
• time off