Sabbath

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The seventh day of the week, Saturday, observed as the day of rest and worship by the Jews and some Christian sects.
2. n. The first day of the week, Sunday, observed as the day of rest and worship by most Christians.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. In the Jewish calendar, the seventh day of the week, now known as Saturday, observed as a day of rest from secular employment, and of religious observance.
2. n. The first day of the week, similarly observed by most Christian denominations: more properly designated Sunday, or the Lord's Day. The seventh day of the week, appointed by the fourth commandment, is still commonly observed by the Jews and by some Christian denominations. (See Sabbatarian.) But the resurrection of the Lord, on the first day of the week, being observed as a holy festival by the early church, soon supplanted the seventh day, though no definite law, either divine or ecclesiastical, directed the change. A wide difference of opinion exists among divines as regards both the grounds and the nature of this observance. On the one hand it is maintained that the obligation of Sabbath observance rests upon positive law as embodied in the fourth commandment; that the institution, though not the original day, is of perpetual obligation; that the day, but not the nature of its requirements, was providentially changed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the consequent action of the Christian church; and that, to determine what is the nature of the obligations of the day, we must go back to the original commandment and the additional Jewish laws. This may be termed the Puritan view, and it defines thus the nature of the Sabbath obligation: “This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all the day from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations; but also are taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of His worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.” (West. Conf. of Faith, xxi. § 8.) The other view is that the fourth commandment is, strictly speaking, a part of the Jewish law, and not of perpetual obligation, though valuable as a guide to the Christian church; that this commandment, like the rest of the Jewish ceremonial law, is abrogated in the letter by Christ; and that the obligation of the observance of one day in seven as a day of rest and devotion rests upon the resurrection of the Lord, the usage of the church, the apostolic practice, and the blessing of God which has evidently followed such observance. This is the view of the Roman Catholic Church, of the Greek Church, of many Anglicans, and of others, including the Protestants of the European continent. It naturally involves a much less strict regulation of the day. Between these two opinions there are a variety of views, the more common one probably being that the obligation to observe one day in seven as a day of holy rest is grounded upon the fourth commandment and is of perpetual obligation, but that the day to be observed and the nature of the observance are left to the determination of the Christian church in the exercise of a Christian liberty and discretion. Other terms for the Sabbath are Sunday, the Lord's Day, and First-day. Sabbath designates the institution as well as the day, and is still in vogue in Jewish and Puritan usage and literature, but properly indicates an obligation based upon the fourth commandment and a continuance of the Jewish observance. Sunday (the Sun's day) is originally the title of a pagan holiday which the Christian holiday supplanted, and is the common designation of the day. The Lord's Day (the day of the Lord's resurrection) is of Christian origin, but is chiefly confined to ecclesiastical circles and religious literature. First-day is the title employed by the Friends to designate the day, their object being to avoid both pagan and Jewish titles.
3. n. [lowercase] A time of rest or quiet; respite from toil, trouble, pain, sorrow, etc.
4. n. [lowercase] The sabbatical year among the Israelites.
5. n. A midnight meeting supposed in the middle ages to have been held annually by demons, sorcerers, and witches, under the leadership of Satan, for the purpose of celebrating their orgies. More fully called Witches' Sabbath. Also, archaically, Sabbat.
6. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the Sabbath (or, by common but less proper use, Sunday): as, Sabbath duties; Sabbath observance; Sabbath stillness.

Wiktionary

1. n. The Biblical seventh day of the week, observed as a day of rest in Judaism, Seventh-day Adventism, or Seventh Day Baptism, starting at sundown on Friday till sundown on Saturday.
2. n. Sunday, observed throughout the majority of Christianity as a day of rest.
3. n. Friday, observed in Islam as a day of rest.
4. n. A meeting of witches at midnight.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A season or day of rest; one day in seven appointed for rest or worship, the observance of which was enjoined upon the Jews in the Decalogue, and has been continued by the Christian church with a transference of the day observed from the last to the first day of the week, which is called also Lord's Day.
2. n. The seventh year, observed among the Israelites as one of rest and festival.
3. n. Fig.: A time of rest or repose; intermission of pain, effort, sorrow, or the like.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a day of rest and worship: Sunday for most Christians; Saturday for the Jews and a few Christians; Friday for Muslims