vacation

[vey-key-shuhn, vuh-]

noun

1. a period of suspension of work, study, or other activity, usually used for rest, recreation, or travel; recess or holiday.

   Schoolchildren are on vacation now.

2. a part of the year, regularly set aside, when normal activities of law courts, legislatures, etc., are suspended.

3. freedom or release from duty, business, or activity.

4. an act or instance of vacating.

verb (used without object)

1. to take or have a vacation.

   to vacation in the Caribbean.

vacation

/ vəˈkeɪʃən /

noun

1. a period of the year when the law courts or universities are closed

2. a period in which a break is taken from work or studies for rest, travel, or recreation Also called (in Britain and certain other countries) holiday

3. the act of departing from or abandoning property, etc

verb

1. (intr) to take a vacation; holiday

Other Word Forms

• vacationer noun
• vacationist noun
• vacationless adjective
• minivacation noun
• prevacation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of vacation¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; from Latin vacātiōn-, stem of vacātiō “freedom from something”; equivalent to vacate + -ion; replacing Middle English vacacioun, from Anglo-French

Word History and Origins

Origin of vacation¹

C14: from Latin vacātiō freedom, from vacāre to be empty

Example Sentences

Would we give a burned-out caregiver a week’s paid vacation?

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“Every single one of you has said this hasn’t hit y’all, like it’s a mini vacation,” he said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Travelers are changing how they plan their vacations, but Booking Holding Inc.’s chief executive thinks it can keep up.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Since then, she‘s shot an indie film, “Sender,” with “Severance’s” Britt Lower, had a brief family vacation and helped the eldest of her two stepsons get settled in for his first year of college.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The company has just enacted a new rule where, if you take a vacation day, you are expected to come to the office the other four days.

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

• break 
• holiday 
• layoff 
• recess 
• respite 
• rest 
• sabbatical 
• time off