vigil

See also: Vigil

English

Etymology

From Middle English vigile (“a devotional watching”), from Old French vigile, from Latin vigilia (“wakefulness, watch”), from vigil (“awake”), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵ- (“to be strong, lively, awake”). See also wake and vigor, from the same root.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɪd͡ʒəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪdʒəl

Noun

vigil (plural vigils)

1. An instance of keeping awake during normal sleeping hours, especially to keep watch or pray.
   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 149:

     I saw her head drooped upon her hand; her whole attitude expressing that profound depression, whose lonely vigil wastes the midnight in a gloomy watch, which yet hopes for nothing at its close.

   • 2016, Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad, Fleet (2017), page 165:

     Eventually the body trade grew so reckless that relatives took to holding graveside vigils, lest their loved ones disappear in the night.

   • 2024 September 5, Isabella Kwai, John Yoon, Rebecca Cheptegei, Olympic Runner From Uganda, Dies After Gasoline Attack‎^[1], The New York Times:

     A vigil was held for Ms. Cheptegei on Wednesday night, Ms. Indimuli said, with many women praying that she would survive.

2. A period of observation or surveillance at any hour.

   His dog kept vigil outside the hospital for eight days while he was recovering from an accident.

3. The eve of a religious festival in which staying awake is part of the ritual devotions.
4. A quiet demonstration in support of a cause.

   The protesters kept vigil outside the conference centre in which the party congress was being held.

Synonyms

• (watch, especially at night): lookout, look-out, qui vive, watch

Derived terms

• candlelight vigil
• coma vigil
• keep vigil

Related terms

• vigilance
• vigilant
• vigilation
• vigilous

Translations

keeping awake

• Asturian: vixilia (ast) f
• Bulgarian: бде́ние (bg) n (bdénie)
• Catalan: vetlla (ca) f, vigília (ca) f
• Cebuano: tukaw
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 值夜 (zh) (zhíyè)

• Czech: bdění n
• Dutch: waak (nl), wake (nl)
• Finnish: valvominen (fi), valvojaiset (fi) pl; yövartio
• French: veille (fr) f
• Galician: vixilia f
• Georgian: სიფხიზლე (sipxizle), ფხიზლობა (pxizloba)
• German: Wache (de), Nachtwache (de) f (at night)
• Greek: αγρυπνία (el) f (agrypnía)
• Irish: cathais f
• Italian: veglia (it) f
• Japanese: 徹夜 (ja) (てつや, tetsuya), 寝ずの番 (ねずのばん, nezu no ban)
• Korean: 밤샘 (bamsaem), 밤새움 (bamsae'um)
• Latin: vigilia f
• Polish: czuwanie (pl) n
• Portuguese: vigília (pt) f
• Romanian: veghe (ro), gardă (ro)
• Russian: бде́ние (ru) n (bdénije)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бдје́ње n, бди̏је̄ње n

  Roman: bdjénje (sh) n, bdȉjēnje n

• Slovak: bdenie n
• Spanish: vigilia (es) f
• Swedish: vaka (sv) c
• Tagalog: lamay
• Ukrainian: бдіння n (bdinnja), чування n (čuvannja), неспання n (nespannja)

period of observation or surveillance

• Bulgarian: дежурство (bg) n (dežurstvo)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 警戒 (zh) (jǐngjiè)

• Czech: hlídka (cs) f, stráž (cs) f
• Finnish: vartio (fi), vartiovuoro, vahti (fi)
• Galician: vixilia f
• German: Wache (de) f
• Greek: επαγρύπνηση (el) f (epagrýpnisi)
• Japanese: 見張り (ja) (みはり, mihari), 警戒 (ja) (けいかい, keikai)
• Latin: vigilia f
• Plautdietsch: Wacht f
• Portuguese: vigia (pt) f
• Romanian: așteptare (ro), observare (ro)
• Ukrainian: пильнування n (pylʹnuvannja), варта (uk) f (varta)

eve of a religious festival

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 守夜祈禱 / 守夜祈祷 (shǒuyè qídǎo)

• Czech: vigilie (cs) f
• Finnish: aatto (fi)
• Galician: vixilia f
• German: Vigil (de) f, Nachtwache (de) f
• Greek: ολονυκτία (el) f (olonyktía)

  Ancient: παννυχίς f (pannukhís)

• Irish: bigil f
• Latin: pervigilium n
• Maltese: sahra f
• Portuguese: vigília (pt) f
• Spanish: vigilia (es) f, víspera (es) f
• Ukrainian: бдіння n (bdinnja), чування n (čuvannja)
• Welsh: gwylnos f

quiet demonstration

• Arabic: اِعْتِصامٌ m (iʕtiṣāmun)
• Finnish: hiljainen mielenosoitus
• French: veillée (fr) f
• Galician: vixilia f
• German: Mahnwache (de) f
• Russian: пикети́рование (ru) n (piketírovanije)

Verb

vigil (third-person singular simple present vigils, present participle vigiling, simple past and past participle vigiled)

1. To participate in a vigil.
   • 1985 August 17, Loie Hayes, “Lesbian 'Shadow Painters' Join in Nuclear Protest”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 6, page 1:

     As the arrested painters and their supporters waited out their "day in court," other activists distributed Hiroshima information leaflets, vigiled silently with placards and banners, and marched 500-strong through downtown Boston to a rally at City Hall Plaza.

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *weǵ- (“to be strong, lively, awake”), whence vigeō.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈu̯i.ɡil/, [ˈu̯ɪɡɪɫ̪]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈvi.d͡ʒil/, [ˈviːd͡ʒil]

Adjective

vigil (genitive vigilis); third-declension one-termination adjective

1. awake, watching, alert

Declension

Third-declension one-termination adjective.

	singular			plural
	masc./fem.	neuter		masc./fem.	neuter
nominative	vigil			vigilēs	vigilia
genitive	vigilis			vigilium
dative	vigilī			vigilibus
accusative	vigilem	vigil		vigilēs	vigilia
ablative	vigilī			vigilibus
vocative	vigil			vigilēs	vigilia

Noun

vigil m (genitive vigilis); third declension

1. watchman, guard, sentinel; constable, fireman; angel
2. (in the plural) the watch, police, constabulary

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	vigil	vigilēs
genitive	vigilis	vigilum
dative	vigilī	vigilibus
accusative	vigilem	vigilēs
ablative	vigile	vigilibus
vocative	vigil	vigilēs

Derived terms

• vigilia
• vigilō

Descendants

• French: vigile
• Irish: feighil
• Italian: vigile
• Piedmontese: vìgil
• Portuguese: vígil
• Romanian: vigil, veghe

References

• “vigil”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “vigil”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• vigil in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.