Ferie – the plural form offeria, which you’ll almost never hear – means ‘holidays’, but not necessarily the kind you set off on.

 

– We’re all on summer holiday

 

While the word vacanza usually refers to a holiday, or vacation, in the sense of a trip, ferie are often the holidays you claim from work – like ‘leave’ or ‘time off’.

 

You might also use the word vacanza.

– Quest’anno andremo in vacanza in Sicilia.

– We’re going on vacation in Sicily this year.

 

Vacanza can also be used in the plural, literally meaning ‘vacations’:

– le vacanze sono andate bene

– While this literally translates to the rather odd-sounding phrase ‘The vacations went well’, it simply means ‘I/we had a nice holiday’.

The distinction between these two words becomes clearer when you go back to the Latin roots: while vacanza comes from vacantia – ’emptiness’ or ‘leisure’ – ferie comes from feriae, an ancient word for a ‘festival’ or ‘holy day’. 

Ho quindici giorni di ferie pagate.
I have two weeks’ paid leave.

Ha preso una settimana di ferie.
She took a week off work.

It’s plural because it referred to holidays that were marked every year – like the Feriae Augusti, the festival of Roman Emperor Augustus – the summer celebrations introduced in 18 BC that are the origins of modern-day Italy’s Ferragosto. 

These days, you’ll see ferie and vacanze used practically interchangeably for holidays of all kinds. 

But ferie seems to be more commonly used, especially when talking about vacations around the sacrosant Ferragosto holiday on August 15th. And some say it refers more to taking annual leave, whether you actually take a trip or not.

But ferie isn’t just for August. Italians also use the phrase ‘giorno di ferie’ for any day they take off work for any reason.