vigil candle
- noun
:
vela de vigilia
- He placed a vigil candle at the altar to honor his late grandmother.
Examples
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At St. Roman Church, women said an extra rosary or lit a vigil candle and prayed in English, Polish, or Spanish to St. Jude, Patron of Impossible Causes.
Fiction book (2001) -
During the service, she lit a vigil candle as a sign of her prayers.
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Many visitors light a vigil candle in memory of loved ones at the church.
Synonyms
451
1.0
A stick or block of wax with a wick that you burn for light
6
8.0
A small candle often lit for prayers or wishes
1
8.3
A small candle lit in a church before a statue or altar when someone prays
A stick of wax with a wick that gives light
How Devotional
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'vigil' (a period of wakefulness for prayer) with 'candle' (a wax light); together they denote a candle used during a vigil or for devotional prayer. This noun–noun composition follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern and would be readily inferable by a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
Vigil candle comes from the practice of keeping watch with a light. People would light a candle and stay awake in a vigil to pray or remember someone, so today it means a candle lit as an act of 'prayer' or 'remembrance'.