Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- the seventh day of the week, Saturday, as the day of rest and religious observance among Jews and some Christians. Ex. 20:8–11.
- the first day of the week, Sunday, similarly observed by most Christians in commemoration of the Resurrection of Christ.
- any special day of prayer or rest resembling the Sabbath: Friday is the Muslim Sabbath.
- (sometimes lowercase) a period of rest.
- (sometimes lowercase) Demonology. Sabbat.
noun
- the seventh day of the week, Saturday, devoted to worship and rest from work in Judaism and in certain Christian Churches
- Sunday, observed by Christians as the day of worship and rest from work in commemoration of Christ’s Resurrection
- (not capital) a period of rest
- Also called: sabbat, witches’ Sabbath a midnight meeting or secret rendezvous for practitioners of witchcraft, sorcery, or devil worship
n.Old English sabat “Saturday as a day of rest,” as observed by the Jews, from Latin sabbatum, from Greek sabbaton, from Hebrew shabbath, properly “day of rest,” from shabath “he rested.” Spelling with -th attested from late 14c., not widespread until 16c. The Babylonians regarded seventh days as unlucky, and avoided certain activities then; the Jewish observance might have begun as a similar custom. Among European Christians, from the seventh day of the week it began to be applied early 15c. to the first day (Sunday), “though no definite law, either divine or ecclesiastical, directed the change” [Century Dictionary], but elaborate justifications have been made. The change was driven by Christians’ celebration of the Lord’s resurrection on the first day of the week, a change completed during the Reformation. The original meaning is preserved in Spanish Sabado, Italian Sabbato, and other languages’ names for “Saturday.” Hungarian szombat, Rumanian simbata, French samedi, German Samstag “Saturday” are from Vulgar Latin sambatum, from Greek *sambaton, a vulgar nasalized variant of sabbaton. Sabbath-breaking attested from 1650s. The holy day of rest and reflection observed each Saturday among the Jews. This custom fulfills the fourth of the Ten Commandments (“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy”). The Sabbath commemorates the last of the seven days of Creation as described in the Book of Genesis, the day God rested from his labors of creating the heavens and the Earth.