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Webster 1913 Edition


Evening

E′ven-ing

,
Noun.
[AS.
ǣfnung
. See
even
,
Noun.
, and cf.
Eve
.]
1.
The latter part and close of the day, and the beginning of darkness or night; properly, the decline of the day, or of the sun.
In the ascending scale
Of heaven, the stars that usher
evening
rose.
Milton.
☞ Sometimes, especially in the Southern parts of the United States, the afternoon is called evening.
Bartlett.
2.
The latter portion, as of life; the declining period, as of strength or glory.
☞ Sometimes used adjectively; as, evening gun. “Evening Prayer.”
Shak.
Evening flower
(Bot.)
,
a genus of iridaceous plants (
Hesperantha
) from the Cape of Good Hope, with sword-shaped leaves, and sweet-scented flowers which expand in the evening.
Evening grosbeak
(Zoöl.)
,
an American singing bird (
Coccothraustes vespertina
) having a very large bill. Its color is olivaceous, with the crown, wings, and tail black, and the under tail coverts yellow. So called because it sings in the evening.
Evening primrose
.
See under
Primrose
.
The evening star
,
the bright star of early evening in the western sky, soon passing below the horizon; specifically, the planet Venus; – called also
Vesper
and
Hesperus
. During portions of the year, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are also evening stars. See
Morning Star
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Evening

E'VENING

,
Noun.
[See Eve, Even.] The latter part and close of the day, and the beginning of darkness or night; properly the decline or fall of the day, or of the sun.
The evening and the morning were the first day. Gen.1.
The precise time when evening begins, or when it ends, is not ascertained by usage. The word often includes a part at least of the afternoon, and indeed the whole afternoon; as in the phrase, 'The morning and evening service of the sabbath.' In strictness, evening commences at the setting of the sun, and continues during twilight, and night commences with total darkness. But in customary language, the evening extends to bed-time, whatever that time may be. Hence we say, to spend an evening with a friend; an evening visit.
1.
The decline or latter part of life. We say, the evening of life, or of one's days.
2.
The decline of any thing; as the evening of glory.

E'VENING

,
Adj.
Being at the close of day; as the evening sacrifice.

Definition 2024


evening

evening

English

Alternative forms

  • ev'ning (obsolete)

Pronunciation

  • enPR: ēv'nĭng, IPA(key): /ˈiːvnɪŋ/

Noun

evening (plural evenings)

  1. The time of the day between dusk and night, when it gets dark.
    • 2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:
      Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.
  2. The time of the day between the approximate time of midwinter dusk and midnight (compare afternoon); the period after the end of regular office working hours.
    • 1893, Walter Besant, The Ivory Gate, chapter III:
      At half-past nine on this Saturday evening, the parlour of the Salutation Inn, High Holborn, contained most of its customary visitors. [] In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp, chapter 2:
      That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired.
  3. (figuratively) A concluding time period; a point in time near the end of something; the beginning of the end of something.
    It was the evening of the Roman Empire.
Derived terms
Related terms
Coordinate terms
Translations

Etymology 2

Inflected forms.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: ē'vənĭng, IPA(key): /ˈiːvənɪŋ/

Verb

evening

  1. present participle of even

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: mark · followed · fear · #427: evening · ground · understand · fine