holiday

noun
/ˈhɒlɪˌdeɪ/UK/ˈhɑləˌdeɪ/US

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ilos Proto-Germanic *hailaz Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-Germanic *hailagaz Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ-? Proto-Germanic *dagaz Proto-Germanic *hailagadagaz Old English hāliġdæġ Middle English halyday English holiday From Middle English halyday, holyday, halidei, haliȝdei, from Old English hāliġdæġ (“holy day, Sabbath”), equivalent to holy + day. Compare West Frisian hjeldei (“holiday”), Danish helligdag (“holiday”), Norwegian helligdag (“holiday”), Swedish helgdag (“holiday, feast”).

  1. inherited from hāliġdæġ — “holy day, Sabbath
  2. inherited from halyday

Definitions

  1. A day on which a religious event or secular celebration is traditionally observed.

    • Near-synonyms: holy day, feast day, festival (feast day sense)
    • Today is a Wiccan holiday!
  2. A day declared free from work by the state or government.

  3. A period of one or more days taken off work for leisure and often travel

    A period of one or more days taken off work for leisure and often travel; often plural.

    • How much holiday are you allowed?
  4. + 7 more definitions
    1. A period during which pupils do not attend their school

      A period during which pupils do not attend their school; often plural; rarely used for students at university (usually: vacation).

      • I want to take a French course this summer holiday.
    2. A period during which, by agreement, the usual payments are not made.

      • a mortgage payment holiday
    3. A gap in coverage, e.g. of paint on a surface, or sonar imagery.

    4. To take a period of time away from work or study.

    5. To spend a period of time in recreational travel.

    6. A surname.

    7. The holiday season or Christmas season, especially when paired with a year.

      • Holiday 2014

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at holiday. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01holiday02secular03timeless04improper05inappropriate06unpleasant07pleasant08pleasing09cheer10festive

A definitional loop anchored at holiday. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

10 hops · closes at holiday

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA