Sabbath - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English sabat, sabbat, sabath, from Old English sabat and Old French sabbat, both from Latin sabbatum, from Ancient Greek σάββατον (sábbaton, “Sabbath”), from Hebrew שַׁבָּת (shabát, “Sabbath”),[1][2] with the spelling ending in -th, probably influenced by the traditional transliteration of the Hebrew as shabbāth, being attested since the 14th century and widespread since the 16th.[3] Doublet of Shabbat. Possibly from the Sumerian sa-bat ("mid-rest")[4]

Sabbath (plural Sabbaths)

  1. Friday evening to Saturday evening, observed in Judaism and some Christian denominations (such as the Coptic Orthodox Church) as a day of rest and worship.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 58:13–14:
      13 ¶ If thou turne away thy foote from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my Holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable, and shalt honour him, not doing thine owne wayes, nor finding thine owne pleasure, nor speaking thine owne wordes:
      14 Then shalt thou delight thy selfe in the Lord, and I will cause thee to ride vpon the high places of the earth, and feede thee with the heritage of Iacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
  2. Sunday, observed in most of Christianity as a day of rest and worship.
  3. A meeting of witches. (Also called a witches' Sabbath, Shabbat, sabbat, or black Sabbath.)
    • 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 112:
      Witches always anointed themselves with ointments before departing up the chimney to their Sabbaths. One such ointment was composed of Aconite, Belladonna, Water Parsley, Cinquefoil and Babies' Fat.
    • 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 419:
      Around this conception was built up the notion of ritual devil-worship, involving the sabbath or nocturnal meeting at which the witches gathered to worship their master and to copulate with him.
  4. (historical) Among the ancient Jews and Hebrews, the seventh year, when the land was left fallow.
    Synonym: Sabbath year
  5. (Buddhism, Myanmar) uposatha day

Saturday (Judaism, some denominations of Christianity)

Sunday (most denominations of Christianity)

witches' Sabbath

  1. ^ “Sabbath”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
  2. ^ “Sabbath”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
  3. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “Sabbath”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  4. ^ Pinches, T.G. (1919) “Sabbath (Babylonian)”, in Hastings, James, editor, Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Selbie, John A., contrib, Charles Scribner's Sons, pages 889–891