DictionaryRoot: vigilia
Latin
vigilia
watch, watchfulness
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noun
vigil
VIJ-il/ˈvɪdʒɪl/
A period of staying awake to keep watch or mark an important occasion.
Etymology
Latin vigilia meant a watch or watchfulness. In English, vigil first referred to devotional watching through the night before a religious festival, then broadened to an occasion of staying awake for a purpose.