English
evening
Evening comes from Middle English evening, from Old English ǣfnung, from ǣfnian ‘to become evening’, from ǣfen ‘eve’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ēbanþsreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*ābanþreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ǣfen‘eve’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150ǣfnian‘to become evening’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150ǣfnung
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500evening
- Englishearliest quotation 1892same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ēbanþsreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*ābanþreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ǣfen‘eve’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150ǣfnian‘to become evening’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150ǣfnung
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500evening
- Englishearliest quotation 1892same form
Earliest quotation: 1892, Walter Besant, New York: “At half-past nine on this Saturday evening, the parlour…”
Formed from even + -ing
Proto-Indo-European *h₁émnos ‘equal, straight; flat, level’
Proto-Germanic *ebnaz ‘even, level’
Proto-West Germanic *ebn ‘even, level’
Old English efn ‘flat; level, even, equal’
Middle English even
English even
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁épi ‘on, at, near’
through Old English ǣfen ‘eve’
Today it means
noun The time of day between afternoon and night.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *ēbanþs / evening