I’m sure many of the King’s guards were quite “vigilant” at his coronation this past weekend.

vigilant — an adjective describing someone who is very alert and watchful for danger

vigilante — the Spanish cognate of the same meaning

A “vigil” — “vigilia” in Spanish — is essentially a time period when someone stays awake to watch over something or someone. These words come from Latin’s vigil which simply means “awake.” If you’re tasked with keeping a “vigil” over something, you absolutely must stay awake.

In English, we took the Spanish word of “vigilante,” changed the pronunciation just a bit to harden the “g” and “a” sounds, and changed the meaning a bit to signify that someone is not only watching over an area but also punishing any wrong-doers.

There are many movies, TV shows, and books where someone is a “vigilante.” Even though you shouldn’t take the law into your own hands, we tend to admire honest people who are fed up with crime and who do something about it. But prior to delivering justice, that person has to be watchful and aware that there is something criminal happening before he or she can do what’s necessary to make things right.

That’s the basis of being a “vigilante.” The person has to hold a “vigil” and be “vigilant.”

“Vigil” originally (and still does have this meaning) dealt with a religious time period before a religious event in which a participant would stay “awake” and pray and prepare himself. That’s why there are “vigil lights,” small candles in churches to be used by people in devotional acts or to be kept burning (as if it’s watching over) before a shrine. Thus, it’s kind of ironic that the word has evolved to become our current use of a “vigilante” who stays awake and aware in order to punish bad guys.

Interesting to me is that the word “vigilance,” which refers to the state of being watchful, is also another word for “insomnia.” It makes sense because when I suffer from insomnia, I’m very much awake when I should be asleep. Maybe I should use my “vigilance” time to become a “vigilante.” Ha ha.

“Vigilance” in Spanish is “vigilancia.” I hope you don’t suffer from it the way I do at times still. Thank goodness for melatonin.

Stay vigilant and safe out there.

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Until next time.

Tammy Marshall

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