A 'holiday." Historically and originally that meant literally "holy day," one recognized in the Christian liturgical calendar. Today, it means... exactly what you said, a "day off from work to celebrate an historic or a religious event." In the United States, officially recognized holidays vary by state and by city, but often include Christmas (religious), Martin Luther King's birthday (historic commemoration of a specific event), and Veterans' Day (honoring veterans of all wars).

Salut Didier, it's a bank holiday

For future reference, can someone tell me how you insert paragraph breaks in your post? My last post had paragraph breaks when I wrote it, but these disappeared in the posted version, making it harder to read.

The answer depends on which English-speaking country you're in. Both Franck and Dan are right, but for different countries: - In the United Kingdom, it's a "bank holiday" (meaning the banks are closed). - In the United States, it's a "holiday." - In many other English-speaking countries (e.g. New Zealand and Australia), it's a "public holiday." Why do Americans say only "holiday" while many other countries say "public holiday"? Countries such as New Zealand and Australia use "holiday" generally to mean either un jour férié or else the holidays that you choose for yourself. Therefore, if people there want to be more specific and talk only about un jour férié", they say "public holiday." If they say only "holiday", the meaning depends on the context. In contrast, Americans use "vacation day" to mean a day that you choose to take off work, but not un jour férié. Therefore, when Americans use "holiday", they usually mean only un jour férié. Confused? Originally from New Zealand, I've lived in the United States for many years now and even though I'm a native English speaker, I still sometimes learn new things about how English is used differently in different countries!