vespertine

adjective

ves·per·tine ˈve-spər-ˌtīn

1

: of, relating to, or occurring in the evening

vespertine shadows

2

: active, flowering, or flourishing in the evening : crepuscular

Did you know?

Imagine this vespertine scenario: Hesperus, the Evening Star, shines in a clear sky; little brown bats flutter near the treetops; somewhere in the distance a church bell calls worshippers to the evening service. Can you find three words that have linguistic counterparts to the Latin root vesper, which means "evening," hidden in that scene? The evening star was once known as Vesper (Hesperus is from the Greek word for "evening star"); vespertilian means "batlike" (the Latin name for a bat is vespertilio); and we still call an evening worship service vespers.

Word History

Etymology

Latin vespertinus, from vesper

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of vespertine was in the 15th century

See more words from the same century

Podcast

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Cite this Entry

Style

“Vespertine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vespertine. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.

Copy Citation

Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Word of the Day

scintilla

Listen to the pronunciation of scintilla

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!