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.-hence, devotional watching; waking for prayer, or other religious exercises.-originally, the watch kept on the night before a feast.-later, the day and the night preceding a feast.-a religious service performed in the evening preceding a feast.