Sabbatical

[suh-bat-i-kuh l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR Sabbatical ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

of or pertaining or appropriate to the Sabbath.

(lowercase) of or relating to a sabbatical year.

(lowercase) bringing a period of rest.

noun

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

Sometimes Sab·bat·ic.

Origin of Sabbatical

1605–15; < Greek sabbatikós (sábbat(on) Sabbath + -ikos -ic) + -al¹

Related formsSab·bat·i·cal·ly, adverbSab·bat·i·cal·ness, nounnon-Sab·bat·ic, adjective, nounnon-Sab·bat·i·cal, adjective, nounnon-Sab·bat·i·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for sabbatical

recess, furlough, break, holiday, vacation, liberty

Examples from the Web for sabbatical

Contemporary Examples of sabbatical

I was also teaching my courses at UC-Berkeley much of that time, though I had time off in the summers and through a sabbatical.
How Richard Pryor Beat Bill Cosby and Transformed America
David Yaffe, Scott Saul
December 10, 2014
After a four-year sabbatical, today LeBron James decided to go back home.
LeBron James: The Yoko Ono of The Heatles
Robert Silverman
July 12, 2014
Her recent medical episode underscores her need for a sabbatical.
Hillary Clinton 2016? Women Look Ahead To ‘History In the Making’
Paul Alexander
January 16, 2013

Historical Examples of sabbatical

Every statesman like every professor should have his sabbatical year.
A Preface to Politics
Walter Lippmann
Has this principle any reference to the sabbatical ordinance?
The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, Vol. 1 (of 4)
Thomas Babington Macaulay
The Jubilee allowed the same privileges as the sabbatical year.
Synopsis of Jewish History
Henry A. Henry
He must have meant, not "years," but weeks of years—Sabbatical years.
The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Daniel
F. W. Farrar
What more hardy than his dealing with the sabbatical year, with idolatry?
A Defence of Virginia
Robert L. Dabney

British Dictionary definitions for sabbatical

sabbatical

adjective

denoting a period of leave granted to university staff, teachers, etc, esp approximately every seventh yeara sabbatical year; sabbatical leave

denoting a post that renders the holder eligible for such leave

noun

any sabbatical period

Word Origin for sabbatical

C16: from Greek sabbatikos; see Sabbath

Sabbatical

adjective Also: Sabbatic

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

noun

short for sabbatical year

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sabbatical

adj.

1640s, "of or suitable for the Sabbath," from Latin sabbaticus, from Greek sabbatikos "of the Sabbath" (see Sabbath). Noun meaning "a year's absence granted to researchers" (originally one year in seven, to university professors) is from 1934, short for sabbatical year, etc., first recorded 1886 (the thing itself is attested from 1880, at Harvard), related to sabbatical year (1590s) in Mosaic law, the seventh year, in which land was to remain untilled and debtors and slaves released.