- Vigil
- Vigil Vig"il, n. [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.
[1913 Webster]
Nothing wears out a fine face like the vigils of the card table and those cutting passions which attend them. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
2. Hence, devotional watching; waking for prayer, or other religious exercises. [1913 Webster]
So they in heaven their odes and vigils tuned. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
Be sober and keep vigil, The Judge is at the gate. --Neale (Rhythm of St. Bernard). [1913 Webster]
3. (Eccl.) (a) Originally, the watch kept on the night before a feast. (b) Later, the day and the night preceding a feast. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster] (c) A religious service performed in the evening preceding a feast. [1913 Webster]
{Vigils of flowers} or {Watchings of flowers} (Bot.), a peculiar faculty belonging to the flowers of certain plants of opening and closing their petals at certain hours of the day. [R.] [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
