sabbatical year

noun

1

often Sabbatical year : a year of rest for the land observed every seventh year in ancient Judea

2

: a leave often with pay granted usually every seventh year (as to a college professor) for rest, travel, or research

called also sabbatical leave

Examples of sabbatical year in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Old Testament describes a time of rest every seven years, known as a sabbatical year. — Natalie Wu, CNBC, 15 May 2025

After two of these cycles are completed, the Sabbatical year (the seventh year) occurs, during which no tithe is taken at all. — Rabbi Avi Weiss, Sun Sentinel, 16 Sep. 2024

Jonathan Lofgren, a professor of addiction counseling at Minneapolis College, launched the college’s program in 2017 after a sabbatical year studying recovery on college campuses. — Leah Fabel, The Christian Science Monitor, 8 Apr. 2024

By 2018, when Ben-Zvi had a sabbatical year at the Institute for Advanced Study, the two sides had inched closer together, most notably in work released that same year by Vincent Lafforgue, a researcher at the Fourier Institute in Grenoble. — Kevin Hartnett, Quanta Magazine, 12 Oct. 2023

In 1970, when the family left for a sabbatical year in Trujillo, Peru, the Kochs made sure to rent their home to a Black family, apparently the first in the neighborhood. — Christopher Reynolds, Los Angeles Times, 18 Apr. 2023

Every seventh year, the Torah tells us in Parshat Behar, is the Shemittah (sabbatical year). — Rabbi Avi Weiss, sun-sentinel.com, 3 May 2021

Three of those appearances were in Charli Turner Thorne's early coaching years at ASU and another during her sabbatical year off in 2011-12. — Jeff Metcalfe, The Arizona Republic, 17 Mar. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1599, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for sabbatical year

• adhere
• ameer
• amir
• appear
• arrear
• astir
• austere
• career
• cashier
• cohere
• compere
• emir