vespers

See also: Vespers

English

Etymology

From Middle English vespers, from Old French vespres (French vêpres), from Ecclesiastical Latin vesperae (“vespers”), substantivisation of relational Late Latin vesperus (“evening”), from vesper (“evening”) +‎ -us.

Euphemistic use first as Vèpres éphésiennes (“Ephesian Vespers”), coined in 1890 by historian Théodore Reinach by analogy with the Sicilian Vespers.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈvɛsˌpɝz/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

vespers (uncountable)

1. (Christianity, plural only) The sixth of the seven canonical hours, an evening prayer service
2. (euphemistic) A massacre

Derived terms

• Sicilian Vespers
• Asiatic Vespers

Related terms

• evensong
• smokefall

Translations

evening canonical hour

• Finnish: vesper (fi) (Catholic); iltahartaus, iltajumalanpalvelus (Luth.)
• French: vêpres (fr) f pl
• German: Vesper (de) f
• Greek: Εσπερινός (el) m (Esperinós)
• Hungarian: vecsernye (hu), vesperás
• Italian: vespri m pl
• Latin: vesperae f pl
• Macedonian: ве́черна f (véčerna)
• Polish: nieszpory (pl) pl
• Welsh: gosber

Noun

vespers

1. plural of vesper

Middle English

Alternative forms

• vespres

Etymology

From Old French vespres, from Ecclesiastical Latin vesperae (“vespers”); see English vespers.

Noun

vespers (uncountable)

1. (Christianity) The sixth of the seven canonical hours.
2. (Christianity) The liturgical service celebrated at this time.

Descendants

• English: vespers

See also

• Vesper

References

• “vesper, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 14 June 2018.

Swedish

Noun

vespers

1. indefinite genitive singular of vesper