English
vespers
Vespers comes from Late Latin vesperus ‘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’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEvesperus‘evening’
- Ecclesiastical Latinc. 200–1500vesperae
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400vespres
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vespers‘the sixth of the seven canonical hours’
- Englishtodaysame form
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’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEvesperus‘evening’
- Ecclesiastical Latinc. 200–1500vesperae
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400vespres
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vespers‘the sixth of the seven canonical hours’
- Englishtodaysame form
The story
Euphemistic use first as Vèpres éphésiennes (‘Ephesian Vespers’), coined in 1890 by historian Théodore Reinach by analogy with the Sicilian Vespers.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kʷséps ‘night’
through Proto-Indo-European *wek⁽ʷ⁾speros ‘evening’
Today it means
noun The sixth of the seven canonical hours, an evening prayer service
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wek⁽ʷ⁾speros / vespers