From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Vacation \Va*ca"tion\, noun [F., fr. L. vacatio a being free from a duty, service, etc., fr. vacare. See {Vacate}.]
1. The act of vacating; a making void or of no force; as, the vacation of an office or a charter.
2. Intermission of a stated employment, procedure, or office; a period of intermission; rest; leisure.
It was not in his nature, however, at least till years had chastened it, to take any vacation from controversy. --Palfrey. Hence, specifically: (a) (Law) Intermission of judicial proceedings; the space of time between the end of one term and the beginning of the next; nonterm; recess. ''With lawyers in the vacation.'' --Shak. (b) A period of intermission of regular paid work or employment, or of studies and exercises at an educational institution; the time during which a person temporarily ceases regular duties of any kind and performs other activites, usually some form of liesure; holidays; recess (at a school); as, the spring vacation; to spend one's vacation travelling; to paint the house while on vacation. Vacation is typically used for rest, travel, or recreation, but may be used for any purpose. In Britain this sense of vacation is usually referred to as {holiday}. [1913 Webster +PJC] (c) The time when an office is vacant; esp. (Eccl.), the time when a see, or other spiritual dignity, is vacant.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure; "we get two weeks of vacation every summer"; "we took a short holiday in Puerto Rico" [syn: {holiday}]
2: the act of making something legally void
verb
1: spend or take a vacation [syn: {holiday}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
117 Moby Thesaurus words for "vacation": AWOL, Christmas, French leave, Sunday, abeyance, abolishment, abolition, abrogation, abscondence, absence, absence without leave, absentation, absenteeism, absenting, annulment, break, breathing space, caesura, cancel, canceling, cancellation, cassation, cease-fire, coffee break, countermand, counterorder, cut, day off, default, defeasance, departure, disappearance, downtime, drop, escape, excused absence, fleeing, furlough, go on furlough, go on leave, half time, half-time intermission, hesitation, holiday, hooky, interim, interlude, intermezzo, intermission, intermittence, interregnum, interruption, interval, invalidation, lapse, layoff, leave, leave of absence, leaving, letup, liberty, lull, make holiday, nonappearance, nonattendance, nullification, off-time, paid holiday, paid vacation, pause, plateau, point of repose, quiet spell, recall, recantation, recess, relief, remission, renege, repeal, rescinding, rescindment, rescission, respite, rest, resting point, retraction, reversal, revocation, revoke, revokement, running away, sabbatical, sabbatical leave, sabbatical year, setting aside, shore leave, sick leave, stand-down, stay, suspension, take a holiday, take leave, time off, time out, truancy, truantism, truce, unexcused absence, vacatur, voidance, voiding, waiver, waiving, weekend, withdrawal, write-off
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