evening

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈiːv.nɪŋ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English evening,^[2][3] inherited from Old English ǣfnung (“the coming of evening, sunset”),^[4][2][5] a verbal noun from ǣfnian (“to become evening, grow toward night”),^[4][3] from ǣfen (“evening”), the source of eve and the noun even, with the suffix -ing.^[4][2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The coming on of evening, the process of growing dusk, the time around sunset: about 1000.^[6][2][4] The SOED marks this sense obsolete since the mid-16th century.^[7]

Semantic evolution

As a synonym of even, the close of the day from sunset to bedtime, it dates from the mid-15th century (about 1440 in the OED),^[4][6] and it has now replaced the older word in this sense.^[4][6] Another Old English noun for evening was cwildtid.^[4] The figurative sense, the declining period of a life, is from 1614.^[6] In dialect and local American use evening means the afternoon, from 1788.^[6][8] An evening spent in a particular way, as a party, is from 1870,^[6] and evening for “good evening” from 1912.^[6] Evening star is from 1535, in Coverdale, replacing Middle English even sterre and Old English ǣfensteorra.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – the coming of dusk.^[6][2]
• c. 1440 – the time from sunset to bedtime.^[6]
• 1535 – evening star.^[2]
• 1614 – the decline of life.^[6]
• 1788 – afternoon (dialect, US).^[6]
• 1870 – a social evening.^[6]
• 1912 – evening, a greeting.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The time of day between late afternoon and night, or from sunset to bedtime.
2. A later period, especially the last part of a person's life; the decline: the evening of his career.
3. An event held in the evening: a musical evening.
4. (regional) The afternoon.

Word family

• eveningwear
• yesterevening
• evening dress
• evening gown
• evening grosbeak
• evening prayer
• evening primrose
• evening star

Related words

• eve
• even
• evensong
• eventide

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin