CabinetA body of advisers made up of department heads. Its meetings are held in the Cabinet Room of the West Wing. The vice president is a member too.
commander in chiefThe leader with final say over the armed forces. Washington held the title twice: over the Continental Army from 1775, and later as president.
ConstitutionThe supreme law, which creates the presidency. It took effect in 1789, the year Washington became president. He had chaired the convention that drafted it in 1787.
electionA vote held to fill a public office. The Electoral College elected Washington unanimously twice, in 1789 and in 1792.
inaugurationThe public event where a winner is sworn in. Inauguration Day comes every four years, on January 20. Washington's first was held in New York City on April 30, 1789.
oathA serious pledge said aloud before taking up a duty. The Constitution spells out the one a new president takes. Its closing words are "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States".
Oval OfficeThe egg-shaped workroom in the West Wing. Its three big windows look out on the South Lawn, and by custom the desk sits in front of them.
Show all 36 terms (29 more)
The president's job, continued
presidentThe elected head of the nation and its government. To hold the office a person must be at least 35 years old, a natural-born citizen and a U.S. resident for 14 years.
termOne fixed stretch in office, lasting four years. Washington served two terms and chose not to run for a third. Since 1951 the Constitution has barred anyone from being elected president more than twice.
vetoThe right to block a bill by refusing to sign it. In Latin the word means I forbid. Congress can override a veto if two thirds of both chambers vote to.
vice presidentThe elected deputy who would take over the top post. In the Senate the vice president presides, voting only when a tie must be broken.
White HouseThe mansion where the chief executive lives. It was built between 1792 and 1800 and has housed every president since 1800. Its sandstone walls are painted white.
The holiday 12
Abraham LincolnThe president who held the Union together in wartime. He was president from 1861 to 1865. He had taught himself, and he sat in the Illinois legislature and in Congress.
centennialThe date that falls one century after an event. For the centennial of Washington's birth, in 1832, Congress adjourned on February 22 in his memory.
Farewell AddressWashington's 1796 letter of advice to the nation. It was printed in a newspaper on September 19, 1796. It praised national unity and warned against rivalry between regions and between parties.
FebruaryThe month of Washington's and Lincoln's birthdays. By the calendar in use at his birth, Washington's birthday was February 11, 1731. Britain and its colonies changed calendars in 1752, which moved it a year and 11 days later.
federal holidayA day when U.S. government offices close by law. The states choose their own legal holidays; Congress has never set one that every state must keep.
George WashingtonThe first person to hold the nation's highest office. He was president from 1789 to 1797. The national capital and a state both carry his name.
honorTo pay public tribute to someone admired. Washington's portrait is on the one-dollar bill and the quarter. Lincoln's is on the five-dollar bill and on the penny.
observeTo keep a holiday or custom in the usual manner. Some states also observe Lincoln's birthday, February 12, as a holiday of its own.
Presidents DayThe holiday's popular name, not its legal one. In most states it is a state holiday too, under various names. Some state laws name Washington alone, others Washington and Lincoln.
traditionA practice kept alive year after year. Every year since 1896 a senator has read Washington's Farewell Address aloud in the Senate to mark his birthday.
Uniform Monday Holiday ActThe 1968 law that made three-day weekends. It took effect in 1971. Since then the holiday can come no later than February 21, so never on Washington's actual birthday.
Washington's BirthdayThe name the holiday bears in United States law. It became a legal holiday in 1879, at first only for federal workers in the District of Columbia.
Washington and Lincoln 12
Civil WarThe 1861 to 1865 fight between North and South. It began a month after Lincoln took office. It ended in a Union victory and the end of slavery across the nation.
Continental ArmyThe troops the colonies raised to fight Britain. The Continental Congress founded it on June 14, 1775. Under Washington, and with French help, it won the decisive victory at Yorktown in 1781.
Emancipation ProclamationA wartime order declaring enslaved people free. Lincoln issued it on January 1, 1863, for the states in rebellion. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery throughout the country in 1865.
Founding FathersThe leaders who won independence for the nation. Washington, one of them, is commonly called the Father of His Country.
Gettysburg AddressLincoln's brief speech at a soldiers' cemetery. He gave it on November 19, 1863, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It runs to about 270 words and lasted under two minutes.
Honest AbeA nickname for the 16th president. Abe is a short form of Abraham. People also call any forthright, truthful person an honest Abe.
Lincoln MemorialA temple-style hall around a huge marble statue. It was dedicated on May 30, 1922. The Gettysburg Address is carved on a wall inside, and the building is pictured on the back of the five-dollar bill.
log cabinA small home with walls of rough timber. Lincoln's birthplace, in Kentucky in 1809, was a log cabin with a single room.
Mount RushmoreA granite cliff carved with four giant heads. It is in South Dakota. Washington and Lincoln are two of the four presidents carved there between 1927 and 1941.
Mount VernonThe riverside plantation Washington called home. It overlooks the Potomac in Virginia, and he lived there until he died. Today it is open to visitors every day.
surveyorA worker who measures and plots property lines. Washington became the surveyor of Culpeper County, Virginia, in 1749, when he was 17.
Washington MonumentThe tall marble-faced obelisk in the capital. It stands about 555 feet tall. From 1884 to 1889 nothing people had built stood taller.
How this list was compiled: Term list chosen for this site on 2026-10-13. Each meaning is written in our own words and was checked that day against these public sources. For the holiday: George Washington's Birthday at the National Archives (https://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/washington), which bears the federal name, the third Monday in February, the holiday of 1879, the Monday Holiday Law of 1968, the centennial of 1832, the two calendars and the note that no law renamed the day; American holidays at USA.gov (https://www.usa.gov/holidays); and Washington's Farewell Address at the U.S. Senate (https://www.senate.gov/about/traditions-symbols/washingtons-farewell-address.htm), which bears the yearly reading since 1896. For the presidency: Presidents, vice presidents, and first ladies at USA.gov (https://www.usa.gov/presidents) and Inauguration of the president of the United States at USA.gov (https://www.usa.gov/inauguration), which bear the president's roles, the three requirements, the vice president's place in the Senate, January 20 and the words of the oath. Every row was also read against the English Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, in the articles Presidents' Day, Uniform Monday Holiday Act, Lincoln's Birthday, Federal holidays in the United States, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington's Farewell Address, President of the United States, Vice President of the United States, Election, Term of office, Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, Oath of office of the president of the United States, United States presidential inauguration, First inauguration of George Washington, Veto, Cabinet of the United States, Commander-in-chief, White House, West Wing, Oval Office, Constitution of the United States, Tradition, Centennial, Founding Fathers of the United States, Continental Army, Mount Vernon, Surveying, Washington Monument, Log cabin, American Civil War, Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg Address, Mount Rushmore, Lincoln Memorial, Statue of Abraham Lincoln (Lincoln Memorial), United States one-dollar bill, Quarter (United States coin), United States five-dollar bill and Penny (United States coin), and against the entries of Wiktionary, the free dictionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/), under the same license, for honor, observe, tradition, centennial, oath, inauguration, surveyor, term, Abe and Honest Abe. The rows of the third set and the facts on the White House, the Oval Office, the Cabinet, the veto, the elections of 1789 and 1792, the coins and bills and the state holidays rest on Wikipedia alone. The sentence after each meaning is from the same sources. Licence: own work
How it works
A Presidents Day vocabulary worksheet to print: president, election, term, oath, inauguration, veto and six more words of the president's job on the left, their meanings mixed up on the right. The answer key comes out as the last page.
Read the full guide
The holiday's own words
In Set, The holiday has Presidents Day, Washington's Birthday, federal holiday, February, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, honor, observe, tradition, Farewell Address, Uniform Monday Holiday Act and centennial.
The two presidents
The third of these Presidents Day vocabulary worksheets, Washington and Lincoln, has Founding Fathers, Continental Army, Mount Vernon, surveyor, Washington Monument, log cabin, Civil War, Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg Address, Honest Abe, Mount Rushmore and Lincoln Memorial. Under the tool each term has a fact, checked against the National Archives, USA.gov, the U.S. Senate and Wikipedia.
One line per term leaves much out. The sheets do not tell, for one, that Washington held many people in slavery at Mount Vernon.
Questions and answers
When is Presidents Day?
On the third Monday of February every year. It is a federal holiday, so many government offices close, and some private businesses close too.
Why do we celebrate Presidents Day?
It began as a day for George Washington, born on February 22, 1732. Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, so one February day can mark both birthdays, and many people now treat it as a day for every president.
Is it Presidents Day or Washington's Birthday?
Both names are used for the same day. No act of Congress and no president ever renamed Washington's Birthday, the National Archives notes. USA.gov lists the holiday under that name and adds "also known as Presidents Day".
Is it Presidents Day, President's Day or Presidents' Day?
All three spellings are in use: whether the name has an apostrophe, and where, varies. USA.gov writes Presidents Day with none, and so does this page. Federal law does not settle it, since it never uses the name.