even

views updated

even1 (poet., dial.) close of the day OE.; eve of a holy day XIV. OE. ǣfen, rel. to synon. OS. āband,MLG., MDu. āvont (Du. avond), OHG. āband (G. abend), perh. rel. to Gr. epí (see EPI-). Synon. ON. aptann may be another formation on the same base, or (more prob.) a deriv. of the base of AFTER. In contr. form e'en arch. and dial. Cf. EVE, EVENING.
Hence evensong, eventide, OE. ǣfensang, -tĩd.

More From encyclopedia.com