Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A bell that summons worshipers to vespers.
  • noun The evening star, especially Venus.
  • noun Archaic Evening.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The evening star, a name given to the planet Venus when she is east of the sun and appears after sunset; hence, the evening.
  • noun plural [⟨ LL. vespera, ML. vesperæ, ⟨ vespera, evening.] In the Roman Catholic and Greek churches, and in religious houses and as a devotional office in the Anglican Church, the sixth or next to the last of the canonical hours.
  • noun A vesper hymn or song.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to the evening, or to the service of vespers.
  • adjective the grass finch. See under Grass.
  • noun The evening star; Hesper; Venus, when seen after sunset; hence, the evening.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The bell that summons worshipers to vespers; the vesper-bell
  • noun poetic evening

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a late afternoon or evening worship service
  • noun a planet (usually Venus) seen at sunset in the western sky

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, evening star, from Latin, evening; see wes-pero- in Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

  • And Mr. C.E.B., in the summertime they had what they called a vesper services up on Park Hill.

    Oral History Interview with Margaret Skinner Parker, March 7, 1976. Interview H-0278. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) 1976

  • We looked about and could see neither her nor Alice; and as it was nearly the hour they call vesper, though the days were still pretty long, we were greatly alarmed at their disappearance.

    Jacques Bonneval Anne Manning 1843

  • Poor little girl; one day to be called a vesper Vole, the next to be forgotten altogether, the next to be remembered after this fashion.

    The Divine Fire May Sinclair 1904

  • To be sure the recitation in concert, where the names of the asteroids, only four in number (instead of a million and four) were brought out by some of us, as "vesper,"

    Connor Magan's Luck and Other Stories M. T. W.

  • Stoles for festivals are generally ornamented with embroidery, especially what are called vesper stoles ".

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 14: Simony-Tournon 1840-1916 1913

  • John McCain needs to get his old behind on the battle field to see what these young men and women are going through. vesper

    Several protesters interrupt McCain speech 2008

  • The hermeneutic of continuity recently published an update of my FARE 2008/9 professional work which as you are aware has now reached a critical legal juncture here in London : vesper has left a new comment on the post "Mass at St Peter's".

    Rinunce e nomine 2009

  • The hermeneutic of continuity recently published an update of my professional work which has now reached a critical legal juncture here in London : vesper has left a new comment on the post "Mass at St Peter's".

    "... this blog is now a Roman Catholic blog..." 2009

  • Poetry has been the key for me, try www.spreadtheword.org.uk : Threads Started By: vesper..

    Now "blogging as a Catholic layman" 2009

  • Last season hermeneutic of continuity published an update of my FARE 2008/9 professional work which as has now reached a critical legal juncture here in London : vesper has left a new comment on the post "Mass at St Peter's".

    Fr Edward Houghton RIP 2009

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