English
vesper
Vesper comes from Old French vespre ‘evening’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wek⁽ʷ⁾speros.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wek⁽ʷ⁾speros‘evening’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wesperosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvesper‘evening star’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400vespre‘evening’
- Englishearliest quotation 1797–1798vesper
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wek⁽ʷ⁾speros‘evening’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wesperosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvesper‘evening star’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400vespre‘evening’
- Englishearliest quotation 1797–1798vesper
Earliest quotation: 1797–1798, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. In Seven Parts.: “In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud, /…”
The story
The martini name was coined by English novelist Ian Fleming in 1953 in his novel Casino Royale, where fictional secret agent James Bond concocts the recipe and names it after the character Vesper Lynd.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kʷséps ‘night’
through Proto-Indo-European *wek⁽ʷ⁾speros ‘evening’
Today it means
noun The bell that summons worshippers to vespers; the vesper-bell.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wek⁽ʷ⁾speros / vesper