Definition of vigil

• v. i. - Abstinence from sleep, whether at a time when sleep is customary or not; the act of keeping awake, or the state of being awake, or the state of being awake; sleeplessness; wakefulness; watch.
• v. i. - Hence, devotional watching; waking for prayer, or other religious exercises.
• v. i. - Originally, the watch kept on the night before a feast.
• v. i. - Later, the day and the night preceding a feast.
• v. i. - A religious service performed in the evening preceding a feast.