Where does “vacation” come from?
Vacation comes from Middle English vacation, from Anglo-Norman vacacioun, from Old French vacation, from Latin vacatio meaning exemption or freedom, ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European root h₁weh₂- meaning to be empty or free.
vacation (English): Freedom from some business or activity; Free time...
Definitions
- Freedom from some business or activity; Free time...
Ancestry of “vacation”, step by step
vacation traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English vacation
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | vacation | — |
| 2 | Anglo-Norman | vacacioun | — |
| 3 | Old French | vacation | — |
| 4 | Latin | vacatio | freedom, exemption, immunity; privilege |
| 5 | Latin | -tiō | tion, -ation, -ing |
| 6 | Latin | dissertātiō | (spoken) dissertation, discourse, disquisition |
| 7 | Latin | dissertus | arranged, disposed; explained |
| 8 | Latin | disserere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 9 | Latin | dis- | asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;... |
| 10 | Latin | calceus | shoe |
| 11 | Latin | calx | limestone; chalk; the finish line |
| 12 | Ancient Greek | χάλιξ | small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble |
via English vac
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | vac | A vacation; A vacuum cleaner; To vacuum; to clean... |
| 2 | Sanskrit | वाच् | speech, voice, talk, language (also of animals), sound (also of inanimate objects as of the stones used for pressing, of a drum etc.) |
| 3 | Proto-Indo-Iranian | wā́kš | speech, voice; sound? |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | wṓkʷs | voice, speech |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | wekʷ- | to speak, to sound out |