vig·il /ˈvɪʤəl/
警戒,監視,守夜
Vig·il n.
1. Abstinence from sleep, whether at a time when sleep is customary or not; the act of keeping awake, or the state of being awake; sleeplessness; wakefulness; watch. “Worn out by the labors and vigils of many months.”
Nothing wears out a fine face like the vigils of the card table and those cutting passions which attend them. --Addison.
2. Hence, devotional watching; waking for prayer, or other religious exercises.
So they in heaven their odes and vigils tuned. --Milton.
Be sober and keep vigil,
The Judge is at the gate. --Neale (Rhythm of St. Bernard).
3. Eccl. (a) Originally, the watch kept on the night before a feast. (b) Later, the day and the night preceding a feast.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbors,
And say, “To-morrow is St. Crispian.” --Shak.
(c) A religious service performed in the evening preceding a feast.
Vigils of flowers or Watchings of flowers Bot., a peculiar faculty belonging to the flowers of certain plants of opening and closing their petals at certain hours of the day. [R.]
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vigil
n 1: a period of sleeplessness
2: a devotional watch (especially on the eve of a religious
festival) [syn: watch]
3: a purposeful surveillance to guard or observe [syn: watch]