sabbatical

adjective sab·bat·i·cal \ sə-ˈba-ti-kəl \

variants: or less commonly sabbatic play \sə-ˈba-tik\

Updated on: 18 May 2018

Definition of sabbatical

1 : of or relating to a sabbatical year

2 : of or relating to the sabbath

sabbatical laws

See sabbatical defined for kids

Recent Examples of sabbatical from the Web

So began our family's sabbatical summer to Kauai, Hawaii; Hokkaido, Japan; northern Italy; and Norway.

— bonnie tsui, Redbook, "What It's Like to Travel Through 4 Countries In 3 Months With 2 Kids," 23 May 2017
If selected as the Golden Apple Award recipient, Ahern will receive a $5,000 cash award and be provided with a tuition-free, spring quarter sabbatical to study at Northwestern University.

— yadira sanchez olson, Lake County News-Sun, "'I want to grow up to be like her': Students praise Waukegan teacher named Golden Apple finalist," 16 Feb. 2018
After a couple of years sabbatical Heynckes was reappointed Bayern's coach in October 2017 - for a fourth time - after Carlos Ancelotti's sacking.

— SI.com, "Jupp Heynckes 'Turned Down' Enticing Coaching Offer From Chelsea After 2013 Bayern Munich Treble," 22 Jan. 2018
Benefits offered at Charles Schwab include automatic enrollment in the 401(k) plan with company match, an employee stock ownership program, matching charitable gifts, and a sabbatical program for eligible workers after five years of service.

— lisa greim, The Denver Post, "Top large workplace 2017: USAA gets high marks for its mission to aid customers and employees," 7 Apr. 2017
Pleased with the rejuvenating results, Mr. Anderszewski, who plays a solo recital at Carnegie Hall on Friday, Feb. 17, took another sabbatical five years later, an extended break of 16 months.

— anthony tommasini, New York Times, "A Pianist’s Warsaw: ‘Fascination and Pain’," 10 Feb. 2017
DU Law professor Ann Vessels started the Veterans Advocacy Project in August 2015 after forming it during a sabbatical semester.

— joe vaccarelli, The Denver Post, "DU law students get hands-on experience helping veterans," 24 Jan. 2017
So began our family's sabbatical summer to Kauai, Hawaii; Hokkaido, Japan; northern Italy; and Norway.

— bonnie tsui, Redbook, "What It's Like to Travel Through 4 Countries In 3 Months With 2 Kids," 23 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sabbatical.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of sabbatical

Late Latin sabbaticus, from Greek sabbatikos, from sabbaton

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1599

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

Other Education Terms

baccalaureate, colloquium, corequisite, dissertation, monograph, pedant, practicum, survey course, thesis

sabbatical

noun

Definition of sabbatical

1 : sabbatical year 2

2 : leave 1b

3 : a break or change from a normal routine (as of employment)

See sabbatical defined for English-language learners

Examples of sabbatical in a Sentence

Several professors will be taking sabbaticals this year.
She recently returned to work after a two-year sabbatical from her acting career.
Several professors will be on sabbatical this year.

Recent Examples of sabbatical from the Web

The news of Schwall's departure came a day after The Wall Street Journal reported that Doug Field, one of Tesla's most senior engineers, was taking a weeks-long sabbatical from the company.

— timothy b. lee, Ars Technica, "Tesla’s “primary technical contact” with the feds just left for Waymo," 13 May 2018
Jerome Guillen, Tesla’s current vice president of truck and programs, for example, took a sabbatical in 2015 from his role as vice president of world-wide sales and service only to return in the new role.

— tim higgins, WSJ, "Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment," 11 May 2018
Three weeks after ending his six-month sabbatical and nearly eight-year tenure as Maryland’s athletic director, Kevin Anderson has agreed to serve in the same position on an interim basis at Cal-Northridge.

— don markus, baltimoresun.com, "Kevin Anderson has been hired as interim athletic director at Cal-Northridge," 4 May 2018
Greitens took a sabbatical from The Mission Continues from late 2013 to spring 2014.

— jason hancock, kansascity, "Greitens lied about, misused charity donor list, report says | The Kansas City Star," 2 May 2018
With the Reds once again falling into a pattern of taking one step forward and two steps back, Jurgen Klopp was appointed, cutting his sabbatical short in order to take up the helm of what was an apparently sinking ship.

— SI.com, "Back From the Brink: How Liverpool Recovered From the Cusp of Mid-Table Mediocrity Under Roy Hodgson," 24 Apr. 2018
McMillen also spent some time talking with Damon Evans, who took over as acting athletic director when Anderson began his sabbatical last fall and is hoping to get the job on a permanent basis when the search process ends.

— don markus, baltimoresun.com, "As Maryland's search for new athletic director begins, a list of potential candidates emerges," 17 Apr. 2018
Maybe Manziel has tightened things up while training during his sabbatical from the NFL.

— steven ruiz, For The Win, "Film review: What Johnny Manziel needs to fix to complete his NFL comeback," 6 Apr. 2018
Other perks include unlimited sick days, extra money toward student loans, and paid sabbaticals.

— Fortune, "PricewaterhouseCoopers," 16 Feb. 2018

The History of sabbatical and sabbath: Take a Break

We tend to think of sabbatical in academic terms, as a school year free from teaching duties that can be devoted to research, travel, and writing. Traditionally, this occurs every seventh year. Because of this scholarly context, we may easily miss what is hiding in plain sight: that sabbatical is related to Sabbath, which refers to the Biblical day of rest, or the seventh day. We trace the origins of both sabbatical and Sabbath to the Greek word sabbaton. Sabbaton itself traces to the Hebrew word shabbāth, meaning “rest.”

The Old Testament refers to God’s “day of rest” most famously in Genesis, but Sabbath referring to an entire year of rest is mentioned in Leviticus (25:3-5):

Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;

But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.

That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.

Sabbatical is also used as an adjective to refer specifically to the rules governing the observance of the Sabbath, as in “sabbatical laws.”