watch, vigil
(noun) a purposeful surveillance to guard or observe
vigil, watch
(noun) the rite of staying awake for devotional purposes (especially on the eve of a religious festival)
vigil
(noun) a period of sleeplessness
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Vigil
A surname.
vigil (plural vigils)
An instance of keeping awake during normal sleeping hours, especially to keep watch or pray.
A period of observation or surveillance at any hour.
The eve of a religious festival in which staying awake is part of the ritual devotions.
A quiet demonstration in support of a cause.
• (watch, especially at night): lookout, look-out, qui vive, watch
Source: Wiktionary
Vig"il, n. Etym: [OE. vigile, L. vigilia, from vigil awake, watchful, probably akin to E. wake: cf. F. vigile. See Wake, v. i., and cf. Reveille, Surveillance, Vedette, Vegetable, Vigor.]
1. Abstinence from sleep, whether at a time when sleep is customary or not; the act of keeping awake, or the state of being awake, or the state of being awake; sleeplessness; wakefulness; watch. "Worn out by the labors and vigils of many months." Macaulay. Nothing wears out a fine face like the vigils of the card table and those cutting passions which attend them. Addison.
2. Hence, devotional watching; waking for prayer, or other religious exercises. So they in heaven their odes and vigils tuned. Milton. Be sober and keep vigil, The Judge is at the gate. Neale (Rhythm of St. Bernard).
3. (Eccl.) (a) Originally, the watch kept on the night before a feast. (b) Later, the day and the night preceding a feast. He that shall live this day, and see old age, Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbors, And say, "To-morrow is St. Crispian." Shak.
(c) A religious service performed in the evening preceding a feast. Vigils, or Watchings, of flowers (Bot.), a peculiar faculty belonging to the flowers of certain plants of opening and closing their petals as certain hours of the day. [R.]
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
23 December 2024
(noun) Australian tree having hard white timber and glossy green leaves with white flowers followed by one-seeded glossy blue fruit
Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted coffee beans, the seeds of berries from certain Coffea species. When coffee berries turn from green to bright red – indicating ripeness – they are picked, processed, and dried. Dried coffee seeds are roasted to varying degrees, depending on the desired flavor.
