Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Wake \Wake\, n.
   1. The act of waking, or being awaked; also, the state of
      being awake. [Obs. or Poetic]

            Making such difference 'twixt wake and sleep.
                                                  --Shak.

            Singing her flatteries to my morning wake. --Dryden.

   2. The state of forbearing sleep, especially for solemn or
      festive purposes; a vigil.

            The warlike wakes continued all the night, And
            funeral games played at new returning light.
                                                  --Dryden.

            The wood nymphs, decked with daises trim, Their
            merry wakes and pastimes keep.        --Milton.

   3. Specifically:
      (a) (Ch. of Eng.) An annual parish festival formerly held
          in commemoration of the dedication of a church.
          Originally, prayers were said on the evening
          preceding, and hymns were sung during the night, in
          the church; subsequently, these vigils were
          discontinued, and the day itself, often with
          succeeding days, was occupied in rural pastimes and
          exercises, attended by eating and drinking, often to
          excess.

                Great solemnities were made in all churches, and
                great fairs and wakes throughout all England.
                                                  --Ld. Berners.

                And every village smokes at wakes with lusty
                cheer.                            --Drayton.
      (b) The sitting up of persons with a dead body, often
          attended with a degree of festivity, chiefly among the
          Irish. ``Blithe as shepherd at a wake.'' --Cowper.

   {Wake play}, the ceremonies and pastimes connected with a
      wake. See {Wake}, n., 3
      (b), above. [Obs.] --Chaucer.