What does vacationing mean?
Vacationing is the act of spending time away from one's usual work or routine for rest, leisure, or travel. The word is used chiefly in North American English, while British speakers more often say “holidaying.” As a verb, it usually describes an activity that is currently under way: a person might say they are “vacationing in Mexico” or “have been vacationing since Friday.” As a gerund noun, it names the activity itself, though this form is less common and is often pluralized as “vacationings.” Vacationing is broadly positive and suggests freedom from routine, although the term can also carry the practical concerns associated with travel, such as expense, planning, and packing. Its Latin ancestry is especially apt: “vacation” ultimately comes from Latin vacare, meaning “to be empty” or “free from occupation.” The word is therefore useful both for describing a holiday and for recalling the original idea of making time empty of work.
To spend time away from one's usual work or routine for rest, leisure, or travel.
"They have been vacationing in the mountains all week."
This is the present-participle form of “vacation” and is chiefly used in North American English.
The activity or practice of taking time away from one's usual work or routine for rest, leisure, or travel.
"Her vacationings abroad have become a family tradition."
This gerund use is relatively uncommon and is usually encountered in the plural form “vacationings.”
A regular but relatively rare plural; the word is more often used as the present participle or gerund of “vacation.”
"Frequent vacationings have become a welcome part of their retirement."
Vacationing has a Latin reason to exist: vacare means “to be empty” or “free from occupation”—the perfect condition for a holiday.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of vacationing
Vacationing was formed by adding the present-participle suffix “-ing” to the English word “vacation.” “Vacation” entered English in the early 17th century from Medieval Latin vacatio, meaning a holiday or leisure, ultimately from Latin vacare, “to be empty” or “free from occupation.” The same Latin root produced related English words such as “vacate,” “vacant,” “vacuity,” and “vacuum.”
How vacationing is actually used
Vacationing is informal to neutral in North American English. It is less usual in British English, where “holidaying” is more idiomatic. It may function as a present participle, as in “while vacationing,” or as a gerund naming the activity.