KJV Dictionary Definition: vigil

vigil

VIG'IL, n. L. vigilia, vigil, walking, watchful; vigilo, to watch. This is formed on the root of Eng. wake. The primary sense is to stir or excite, to rouse, to agitate.

1. Watch; devotion performed in the customary hours of rest or sleep.

So they in heav'n their odes and vigils tun'd.

2. In church affairs, the eve or evening before any feast, the ecclesiastical day beginning at 6:00 in the evening, and continuing till the same hour the following evening; hence, a religious service performed in the evening preceding a holiday.

3. A fast observed on the day preceding a holiday; a wake.

4. Watch; forbearance of sleep; as the vigils of the card table.

Vigils or watchings of flowers, a term used by Linne to express a peculiar faculty belonging to the flowers of certain plants, of opening and closing their petals at certain hours of the day

vigilance

VIG'ILANCE, n. L. vigilans. See Vigil.

1. Forbearance of sleep; a state of being awake.

2. Watchfulness; circumspection; attention of the mind in discovering and guarding against danger, or providing for safety. Vigilance is a virtue of prime importance in a general. The vigilance of the dog is no less remarkable than his fidelity.

3. Guard; watch.

In at this gate none pass the vigilance here plac'd.

vigilancy

VIG'ILANCY, for vigilance, is not used.

vigilant

VIG'ILANT, a. L. vigilans. Watchful; circumspect; attentive to discover and avoid danger, or to provide for safety.

Take your places and be vigilant. Be sober, be vigilant.

1Peter 5.

vigilantly

VIG'ILANTLY, adv. supra. Watchfully; with attention to danger and the means of safety; circumspectly.

Definitions from Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828.
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