vigil

[vij-uhl]

noun

1. wakefulness or watchfulness maintained for any reason during the normal hours for sleeping.

   They passed many hours in vigil.

2. a watch or a period of watchful attention maintained at night or at other times.

   The nurse kept her vigil at the bedside of the dying man.

3. a quiet demonstration to support a cause, protest an injustice, honor the dead, etc..

   A candlelight vigil in remembrance of the two fallen officers will be held tonight at sundown.

4. Ecclesiastical.

   1. Sometimes vigils a nocturnal devotional exercise or service, especially on the eve before a church festival.

      The Easter vigil reflects on the holy sacraments as well as the resurrection and ascension of Christ.

   2. the eve, or day and night, before a church festival, especially an eve that is a fast.

5. a period of wakefulness from inability to sleep.

vigil

/ ˈvɪdʒɪl /

noun

1. a purposeful watch maintained, esp at night, to guard, observe, pray, etc

2. the period of such a watch

3. RC Church Church of England the eve of certain major festivals, formerly observed as a night spent in prayer: often marked by fasting and abstinence and a special Mass and divine office

4. a period of sleeplessness; insomnia

Word History and Origins

Origin of vigil¹

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English vigil(i)e, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin vigilia “eve of a holy day,” special use of Latin vigilia “watchfulness,” equivalent to vigil “sentry” + -ia -y ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of vigil¹

C13: from Old French vigile, from Medieval Latin vigilia watch preceding a religious festival, from Latin: vigilance, from vigil alert, from vigēre to be lively

Example Sentences

Last month, members of the Sikh community gathered in protest and later held a vigil to show their support for the victim and discuss violence against women.

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They’re accompanying migrants to their immigration hearings, hosting vigils for people that have been disappeared by ICE and protesting in the streets for immigrant rights.

Read more on Salon

We "grew up together - we were in each other's homes," she said at a weekend vigil.

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Jewish student groups had regularly gathered on campuses, including last week, for candlelight vigils, songs and prayer services to honor dead and living hostages in Gaza and their families two years after the Oct.

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"They were loved by their families and by the community," she said outside another prayer vigil at the Hurricane Chapel Free Will Baptist Church in nearby McEwen.

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Related Words

• observance 
• patrol