Etymologically
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evening

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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
  • 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