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Holiday

For other uses, see Holiday (disambiguation).

The word holiday has related but different meanings in English-speaking countries. Based on the words holy and day, holidays originally represented special religious days. The word has evolved in general usage to mean any special day of rest (as opposed to regular days of rest such as the weekend).

In most of the English-speaking world a holiday is also a period spent away from home or business in travel or recreation (e.g. "I'm going on holiday to Malta next week"), the North American equivalent is "vacation". However, some Canadians (especially those of British or Irish descent) will use both the terms vacation and holiday interchangeably when referring to a trip away from home or time off work.

In all of the English-speaking world, a holiday is a day set aside by a nation or culture (in some cases, multiple nations and cultures) typically for celebration but sometimes for some other kind of special culture-wide (or national) observance or activity. A holiday can also be a special day on which school and/or offices are closed, such as Labor Day.

When translated from/to other languages, the meanings of the word "holiday" may be conflated with these of "observance" and "celebration".

In paint lingo, holiday can also mean an unintentional gap left on a plated, coated, or painted surface.


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Public holidays

A public holiday or legal holiday or bank holiday is a holiday endorsed by the state. Public holidays can be either religious, in which case they reflect the dominant religion in a country, or secular, in which case they are usually political or historical in inspiration. "Public holiday" is the term used in, for example, Australia. "Bank holiday" is the term used in the UK because on these days the Banks do not by law open for business, which originally prevented the transacting of other commercial business (although some industries in the UK now work through Bank Holidays, including some shops). "Legal holiday" is the predominant term used within the United States, although "bank holiday" is recognized by many persons as referring to the same phenomenon. In the United States both federal holidays and state holidays are observed.

Consecutive holidays

Consecutive holidays are a string of holidays taken together without working days in between. They tend to be considered a good chance to take short trips. In late 1990s, the Japanese government passed a law that increased the likelihood of consecutive holidays by moving holidays from fixed days to a relative position in a month, such as the second Monday. Well-known consecutive holidays include:

Religious holidays

See Category:Holy days

Bahá'í holidays

Main article: Bahá'í calendar

Buddhist holidays

Celtic, Norse, and Neopagan holidays

In the order of the Wheel of the Year:

Christian holidays

See also: liturgical year

The Catholic patronal feast day or 'name day' are celebrated in each place's patron saint's day, according to the Calendar of saints.

Hindu holidays

Islamic holidays

Jewish holidays

Main article: Jewish holiday

The American winter holiday season

Main article: Winter holiday season

In the United States and periodically Canada, the winter holiday season is known as a period of time surrounding Christmas that was formed in order to embrace all cultural and religious celebration rather than only Christian celebrations. Usually, this period begins near the end of November and ends with New Year's Day on January 1. The holiday season is usually commercially referred to with a broad interpretation, avoiding the reference of specific holidays like Hanukkah or Christmas. Traditional "holiday season" festivities are usually associated with winter, including snowflakes and wintry songs. In some Christian countries, the end of the festive season is considered to be after the feast of Epiphany, although this has only symbolic value.

Holidays traditionally in the winter holiday season

Winter holiday greetings

(See Christmastime greetings)

National holidays

Further information: national holiday and list of holidays by country

International holidays (secular)

Many other days are marked to celebrate events or people, but are not strictly holidays as time off work is rarely given.

See also "International observance". Some of these observances are celebrations, some others are not, being, e.g., mournful observances.

Suggested international observances

Other secular holidays

Other secular holidays not observed internationally:

Unofficial holidays

These are holidays celebrated by various groups and individuals. Some are designed to promote a cause, others recognize historical events not recognized officially, and others are "funny" holidays, generally intended as humorous distractions and excuses to share laughs among friends.

No holidays?

Referring to the original meaning of the term, Henny Youngman included this joke among his vast catalog of one-liners:

"I was an atheist for awhile, but I gave it up. No holidays!"

Although Youngman's jest suggests that the list of holidays for a non-believer would necessarily be the "empty set", many non-believers honor various secular holidays and other "holy" days, and those of one faith often honor holidays of other faiths.

Further reading

See also

Holiday:Wikibooks
Wikibooks Cookbook has an article on
Holiday Recipes

Categories


Holidays | Working time

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