vacation

[vey-key-shuh n, vuh-] /veɪˈkeɪ ʃən, və-/
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)
5.
to take or have a vacation:
to vacation in the Caribbean.
Origin
1350-1400; < Latin vacātiōn- (stem of vacātiō freedom from something; see vacate, -ion); replacing Middle English vacacioun < Anglo-French
Related forms
vacationer, vacationist, noun
vacationless, adjective
minivacation, noun
prevacation, noun, adjective
Can be confused
vacation, vocation.
Examples from the web for vacation
  • If you work for a retail department store, you do not have the right for sick leave, and vacation time is a big joke.
  • The venture is no working vacation for environmental advocates.
  • While her father was lying ill, she had spent a brief vacation in the alley.
  • IN the heart of the winter, many homeowners may be romanticizing about a vacation home in warmer climes.
  • One of our favorite techniques for handling those last ten days before school starts is to go on a short beach vacation.
  • vacation can mean different things to different people.
  • Instead, you'll be greeted and ushered right to your door so your vacation can begin immediately.
  • Think of it this way: there may be worse things in life than the first days back at work after vacation.
  • My friend who was to go with me had not yet put in for vacation days.
  • Or think that much harder about their vacation destination.
British Dictionary definitions for vacation

vacation

/vəˈkeɪʃən/
noun
1.
(mainly Brit) a period of the year when the law courts or universities are closed
2.
(mainly US & Canadian) 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
4.
(intransitive) (US & Canadian) to take a vacation; holiday
Derived Forms
vacationless, adjective
Word Origin
C14: from Latin vacātiō freedom, from vacāre to be empty
Word Origin and History for vacation
n.

late 14c., "freedom from obligations, leisure, release" (from some activity or occupation), from Old French vacation, from Latin vacationem (nominative vacatio) "leisure, a being free from duty," noun of state from past participle stem of vacare "be empty, free, or at leisure" (see vain).

Meanings "state of being unoccupied; process of vacating" are early 15c. Meaning "formal suspension of activity" (in reference to schools, courts, etc.) is recorded from mid-15c. As the U.S. equivalent of what in Britain is called a holiday, it is attested from 1878.

v.

1876, from vacation (n.). Related: Vacationed; vacationing.

Slang definitions & phrases for vacation

vacation

noun

A prison sentence: who won a 20 years' vacation in the Big House (1920+ Underworld)