Meanings
furlough1
plural furloughs
- A leave of absence or vacation.
- UScountableuncountableEspecially one granted to a member of the armed forces, or to a prisoner.
And I had a lot of things on my mind and I pretty well forgot my promise to Mama until I got shipped home on a special furlough for her funeral.
1957, James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues”, in Going to Meet the Man, Dial, published 1965 - UKcountableuncountableEspecially one granted to a missionary.
- countableuncountableThe documents authorizing such leave.
- countableuncountableA period of unpaid time off, used by an employer to reduce costs.
The state estimates the one-day-a-month furlough spread over the 18 months of the plan would amount to a 5 percent cut in pay.
2008 November 7, Jon Ortiz, “State workers rip Schwarzenegger's job furlough plan”, in The Sacramento Bee, archived from the original on 02 Feb 2009
present singular third person furloughs · participle present furloughing · participle past furloughed · past furloughed
- transitiveTo grant a furlough to (someone).
- transitiveTo have (an employee) not work in order to reduce costs; to send (someone) on furlough.
This implies, for example, that firms should not revise their estimated production capacity downwards when furloughing workers, but should do so after laying off staff permanently.
2025 January 28, Niklas Amberg, Richard Friberg, Chad Syverson, “Have We Got News For You: Firm-Level Evidence on the Optimal Choice of Expected Capacity Utilization”, in NBER Working Papers, number 33400, page 4
Furlough2
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
furlough · noun, verb
- Old Saxonfar-
- GermanVerlaub
- Middle Low Germanverlōf“furlough, permission”
- Dutchverlof“furlough”
- Englishfurlough
From Dutch verlof (“furlough”), probably from Middle Low German verlōf (“furlough, permission”) (possibly via German Verlaub), from the verb verlōven (“to allow”), from Old Saxon far- + lōvian (“to trust, believe”). From Middle Low German also German Verlaub, Danish forlov. Doublet of leave.
More words from Dutch, Middle Low German, German
Full word history & related roots →Furlough · proper noun
English surname, probably a variant of Farlow.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian отпуск
- отпуск (otpusk)leave of absence
Czech nucená dovolená, dovolenka
- nucená dovolenáperiod of unpaid time off used by an employer to reduce costs
- dovolenkaleave of absence
- propustkadocuments authorizing leave of absence
Dutch onbetaald verlof, verlof
- onbetaald verlofperiod of unpaid time off used by an employer to reduce costs
- verlofleave of absence
Finnish lomautus, pakkoloma
- lomautusperiod of unpaid time off used by an employer to reduce costs
- pakkolomaperiod of unpaid time off used by an employer to reduce costs
- lomaleave of absence
- lomalupadocuments authorizing leave of absence
- myöntää lomato grant a furlough
- lomauttaato bar (an employee) from working
French chômage technique, congé
- chômage techniqueperiod of unpaid time off used by an employer to reduce costs
- congéleave of absence
- mettre au chômage techniqueto bar (an employee) from working
- mettre à piedto bar (an employee) from working
German unbezahlter Zwangsurlaub, Zwangsurlaub
- unbezahlter Zwangsurlaubperiod of unpaid time off used by an employer to reduce costs
- Zwangsurlaubperiod of unpaid time off used by an employer to reduce costs
- Kurzarbeitperiod of unpaid time off used by an employer to reduce costs
- Urlaubleave of absence
- Hafturlaubleave of absence
- Ausgangleave of absence
- Freigangleave of absence
- beurlaubento grant a furlough
- zwangsbeurlaubento bar (an employee) from working
Hungarian kényszerszabadság, fizetés nélküli szabadság
- kényszerszabadságperiod of unpaid time off used by an employer to reduce costs
- fizetés nélküli szabadságperiod of unpaid time off used by an employer to reduce costs
- eltávozási engedélyleave of absence
- szabadságleave of absence
- eltávozásleave of absence
- eltávleave of absence
- szabadságolási/távozási engedélydocuments authorizing leave of absence
- szabadságot adto grant a furlough
- szabadságolto grant a furlough
- kényszerszabadságra küldto bar (an employee) from working
Irish scor
- scorleave of absence
Italian permesso non retribuito, cassa integrazione
- permesso non retribuitoperiod of unpaid time off used by an employer to reduce costs
- cassa integrazioneperiod of unpaid time off used by an employer to reduce costs
- licenzaleave of absence
- congedoleave of absence
Norwegian Bokmål permittering, permittere
- permitteringperiod of unpaid time off used by an employer to reduce costs
- permittereto bar (an employee) from working
Polish urlop, przepustka
- urlopleave of absence
- przepustkadocuments authorizing leave of absence
Portuguese licença não remunerada, licença
- licença não remuneradaperiod of unpaid time off used by an employer to reduce costs
- licençaleave of absence
Romanian învoire, permisie
- învoireleave of absence
- permisieleave of absence
Russian неоплачиваемый отпуск, о́тпуск
- неоплачиваемый отпуск (neoplačivajemyj otpusk)period of unpaid time off used by an employer to reduce costs
- о́тпуск (ótpusk)leave of absence
- увольне́ние (uvolʹnénije)leave of absence
- побы́вка (pobývka)leave of absence
- увольни́тельная (uvolʹnítelʹnaja)documents authorizing leave of absence
Scottish Gaelic fòrladh, fòrladh
- fòrladhleave of absence
- fòrladhdocuments authorizing leave of absence
Slovak dovolenka
- dovolenkaleave of absence
Spanish ausencia no pagada, sabático obligatorio no pagado
- ausencia no pagadaperiod of unpaid time off used by an employer to reduce costs
- sabático obligatorio no pagadoperiod of unpaid time off used by an employer to reduce costs
- permisoleave of absence
- dispensaleave of absence
- licencialeave of absence
- permiso de ausencia oficialdocuments authorizing leave of absence
Swedish permission
- permissionleave of absence
Ukrainian зві́льнення, відпустка
- зві́льнення (zvílʹnennja)leave of absence
- відпустка (vidpustka)leave of absence
Cite this entry
furlough. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/furlough
“furlough.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/furlough. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “furlough,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/furlough.
Source: furlough on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.