vigilance

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French vigilance, from Latin vigilantia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɪd͡ʒɪlɪns/
• (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /ˈvɪd͡ʒɪləns/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

vigilance (usually uncountable, plural vigilances)

1. Alert watchfulness.
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. , volume III, London: Henry Colburn, , →OCLC, pages 153–154:

     To-night she took her accustomed place; for, during the night, no vigilance could satisfy her but her own: any eye but hers might close in momentary forgetfulness.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed. And thus we came by a circuitous route to Mohair, the judge occupied by his own guilty thoughts, and I by others not less disturbing.

2. Close and continuous attention.
   • 1837 March 4, Andrew Jackson, Farewell Address:

     But you must remember, my fellow-citizens, that eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty, and that you must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing.

3. (obsolete) A guard; a person set to watch.

Derived terms

Related terms

• vigilant

Translations

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vigilantia. By surface analysis, vigile +‎ -ance.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vi.ʒi.lɑ̃s/

• audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑ̃s

Noun

vigilance f (plural vigilances)

1. vigilance

Further reading

• “vigilance”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.