Dictionary Definition
evening
Noun
1 the latter part of the day (the period of
decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall); "he
enjoyed the evening light across the lake" [syn: eve, eventide]
2 a later concluding time period; "it was the
evening of the Roman Empire"
3 the early part of night (from dinner until
bedtime) spent in a special way; "an evening at the opera"
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- , /ˈiːvnɪŋ/, /"i:vnIN/
Noun
- The time of the day between dusk and night, when it gets dark.
- 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.
- 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
Translations
time of day
- Afrikaans: aand
- Albanian: mbrëmje
- Arabic: (mašā’)
- Bosnian: veče , večer
- Catalan: tarda (early evening) (ca); vespre (late evening) (ca)
- Chinese: 晚上 (wǎnshang), 黄昏 (huánghūn)
- Croatian: večer
- Danish: aften
- Dutch: avond
- Esperanto: vespero
- Estonian: õhtu
- Finnish: ilta
- French: soir °
- German: Abend °
- Greek: εσπέρα (espéra), βράδυ (vrádhy), δειλινό (dhilinó)
- Hebrew: ערב (erev)
- Hungarian: este °
- Italian: sera °
- Japanese: 夕方 (ゆうがた, yūgata), 日暮れ (ひぐれ, higure); 晩年 (ばんねん, bannen), 末期 (まっき, makki)
- Korean: 저녁 (jeonyeok)
- Kurdish:
- Latvian: vakars
- Livonian: ȭdõg
- Malay: petang
- Maltese: għaxija, filgħaxija
- Norwegian: kveld °
- Polish: wieczór °
- Russian: вечер (véčer) °
- Scottish Gaelic: feasgar
- Serbian:
- Shona: maneru
- Slovene: večer
- Spanish: tarde °
- Swedish: kväll °, afton ° (dated)
- Tamazight: ⵜⴰⵎⴻⴷⴷⵉⵜ (tameddit)
- Telugu: సాయంత్రం (saayamtram), సాయంకాలం (saayamkaalam)
- Welsh: noswaith, hwyr, noson (occasion)
figurative: concluding time period
Etymology 2
Inflected forms.Pronunciation
- , /ˈiːvənɪŋ/, /"i:v@nIN/
Verb form
evening- present participle of even
Extensive Definition
Evening is the period in which the daylight is
decreasing, between the late afternoon and night, around the time when
dinner is taken. Though
the term is subjective, evening is typically understood to begin
just before twilight,
sunset, during the close
of the standard business day, 6 pm – and extend until night – typically astronomical
sunset, 10 pm.
In the rural American South, "evening"
["eev-nin"] is often used to describe the entire late afternoon,
especially when the main meal of the day, dinner, is taken in
the early afternoon; evening is thus anytime after dinner.
Biblical Definition of "Evening"
A formal definition is used for religious purposes. For instance, the Israelite priesthood of the Old Testament in the Bible, was required to perform certain duties "at even(ing)". However, this definition is controversial. There are two prevailing views:- The last quarter of the daylight portion of the day, before sunset. This view was held by the Jewish Pharisees and is supported in historical references such as Josephus and the Bible.
- The twilight before dark, after sunset. This view was held by the Samaritans and the Karaites.
The Bible uses a term for
the period of time between two distinct evenings: "beyn ha arbayim"
translated as "between the two evenings". Though both of the above
camps define one of the evenings as sunset, the other is
controversial. From the passages in Matthew 27:46, 57 and Mark
15:34, 42, the New
Testament clearly supports the first evening to be the ninth
'hour' of the day (an hour in the Bible defined as
1/12th of the daylight portion of the day), and the second evening,
that ends the day, at sunset.
Things that happen in the evening
Some flowers, like the evening primrose open their petals only during this time of the day.The "evening newspapers" are newspapers that are
printed late in order to include last-hour news and are usually
available only after noon.
The "evening star" is a name for the planet
Venus, which
can appear brilliantly on the western sky after sunset, being also
the first 'star' that can be seen.
See also
evening in Catalan: Vespre
evening in Czech: Večer
evening in German: Abend
evening in Erzya: Чокшне
evening in Esperanto: Vespero
evening in Korean: 저녁
evening in Interlingua (International Auxiliary
Language Association): Vespere
evening in Lithuanian: Vakaras
evening in Dutch: Avond
evening in Japanese: 夕
evening in Quechua: Ch'isi
evening in Russian: Вечер
evening in Finnish: Ilta
evening in Swedish: Kväll
evening in Contenese: 挨晚
evening in Samogitian: Vakars
evening in Chinese: 傍晚
evening in Slovak: Večer
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
accommodation, adjustment, afternoon, balancing, close of day,
cockshut, coordination, crepuscular, dimpsy, dusk, duskiness, duskness, dusky, equalization, equalizing, equating, equation, equilibration, eve, even, evening up, evensong, eventide, gloaming, grayness, harmonization, integration, nightfall, party, reception, regularization, salon, setting sun, shut of day,
soiree, sundown, sunset, sunsetty, symmetrization, the
expiring day, twilight,
twilighty, vesper, vespertine