sabbatical year

American  

noun

1. Also called sabbatical leave.  (in a school, college, university, etc.) a year, usually every seventh, of release from normal teaching duties granted to a professor, as for study or travel.

2. Chiefly Biblical. a yearlong period to be observed by Jews once every seven years, during which the fields were to be left untilled and all agricultural labors were to be suspended. Leviticus 25.

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sabbatical year British  

noun

1. (often capitals) Bible a year during which the land was to be left uncultivated, debts annulled, etc, supposed to be observed every seventh year by the ancient Israelites according to Leviticus 25

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Etymology

Origin of sabbatical year

First recorded in 1625–35

Example Sentences

He said at the time that he was taking a sabbatical year and added he could be open to coaching a national team after his year off.

From Washington Times • Aug. 18, 2023

In 1970, when the family left for a sabbatical year in Trujillo, Peru, the Kochs made sure to rent their home to a Black family, apparently the first in the neighborhood.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2023

Hart said he would propose a similar campaign during the next Jewish sabbatical year, which falls in 2028.

From Washington Post • Mar. 3, 2023

He decided against taking a sabbatical year in China, for fear it would make him a target.

From New York Times • Jan. 24, 2022

The seventh year, which is there a relative one, has here become fixed,—not varying for the various properties, but common for the whole land, a sabbatical year after the manner of the Sabbath day.

From Prolegomena by Wellhausen, Julius