vespers
- vespers
\ \ [17] Latin vesper meant ‘evening’, and like Greek hésperos it went back ultimately to Indo-European *wespero-. This was formed from a base *we- which denoted ‘down’ and also produced English west, so etymologically vesper signified ‘time when the sun goes down’. (Russian vecher ‘evening’ comes from another version of the same base.) English vespers itself goes back via Old French vespres to the plural of the variant Latin form vespera.
\ \ Cf.⇒ WEST
Word origins - 2ed.
J. Ayto.
2005.
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Look at other dictionaries:
Vespers — • Historical article on Evening Prayer, one of the two principal canonical hours Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Vespers Vespers … Catholic encyclopedia
Vespers — Ves pers, n. pl. [OF. vespres, F. v[^e]pres, LL. vesperae, fr. L. vespera evening. See {Vesper}, n.] (R. C. Ch.) (a) One of the little hours of the Breviary. (b) The evening song or service. [1913 Webster] {Sicilian vespers}. See under {Sicilian} … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
vespers — ► NOUN ▪ a service of evening prayer, especially in the Western Christian Church. ORIGIN Latin vesperas evensong … English terms dictionary
Vespers — For other uses, see Vespers (disambiguation). Benedictine monks singing Vespers on Holy Saturday Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern (Byzantine) Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies… … Wikipedia
Vespers — 1) The major hour of the divine office of the Roman Catholic rite sung in the evening. Sundays and important feasts are allotted two vespers services, a first vespers that begins the feast on the preceding evening and second vespers that… … Historical dictionary of sacred music
vespers — ves·pers also Ves·pers (vĕsʹpərz) pl.n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) 1. Ecclesiastical. a. The sixth of the seven canonical hours. b. A worship service held in the late afternoon or evening in many Western Christian churches. c. The time of… … Universalium
Vespers — One of the Seven Canonical Hours (which see). It was from the ancient offices of Vespers and Compline that the present service of Evening Prayer was compiled. This service is sometimes now called Vespers and also Even Song (which see) … American Church Dictionary and Cyclopedia
Vespers — [evensong] One of the day s canonical hours of prayer, vespers is for the early evening. Cf. Horarium … Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases
vespers — [17] Latin vesper meant ‘evening’, and like Greek hésperos it went back ultimately to Indo European *wespero . This was formed from a base *we which denoted ‘down’ and also produced English west, so etymologically vesper signified ‘time when the… … The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins
vespers — [[t]ve̱spə(r)z[/t]] N UNCOUNT In some Christian churches, vespers is a service in the evening … English dictionary
vespers — /ˈvɛspəz / (say vespuhz) plural noun (sometimes upper case) 1. a religious service held in the late afternoon or the evening; Evensong. 2. Ecclesiastical a. the sixth of the seven canonical hours, or the service for it, occurring in the late… …
