vespertine

[underused]

vespertine

relating to, occurring, or active in the evening

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This whispering adjective has its root in vesper, the Latin for evening or evening star. Though not much used, “vesper” is a synonym for evening in English. Vespers (also known to Anglicans as evensong) is also the name of evening prayers in some Christian traditions.

Vespertine in the life sciences describes flowers that bloom at dusk, as well as the habits of bats and owls. (If you live with a cat, you’re familiar with vespertine antics.)

Literarily, it captures an eerily beautiful time of day.

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One of my favourite parts of Word of the Day is when the community shares words that come to mind in reading an entry.

What words does vespertine (or evening) evoke for you?

Comments

[amidthestars]

I've only ever known Vespers as it relates to prayer, and I've always thought it was a beautiful word. It makes me think of the word "whisper." (You, too, it seems.)

Vespertine is beautiful, too. I love that it gives me a way to use one of my favourite words in a broader context. It makes me think of that soft blue evening light and the sound of tall grasses brushing against each other in the wind.

(I love the word evensong, too. Before I knew its place in Anglican liturgy, I learned the word in a Rilke poem. Sometimes I still find myself saying those last 6 lines over and over, like a prayer.)

[underused]

"the wind
sucks the world from your senses"

That passage just whacked me in the head. It's all really beautiful.

Vespers is *such* a whispery word--and vespertine, too. It's related to Hesperus, the (Greek) evening star who is, incidentally, the half-brother of Phospherus, the morning star. Seriously. Language is magic.

When I read vespertine I immediately thought of antelucan. MAGIC I SAY.

[merikuru]

It's a little boring really but it makes me think of "twilight". And not in the sense of the terrible book series, either. I've always found twilight a truly magical time, blurring the line between light and dark into something mysterious and not entirely comprehendable.

[underused]

It's not boring at all--it's a beautiful word. (We need never speak of the books.) Dusk, too. Just because it's common doesn't mean it's not lovely.

[merikuru]

Dusk is nice too! It makes my mind go to dusky, which makes me think more of skin color. :D

[underused]

I keep trying to reply but my internet keeps cutting out. Bah. I'll have to give a proper reply tomorrow....

[merikuru]

*shakes fist at internet!*

...to be fair, dusky also makes me think of nipples, but then I do read a fair amount of odd erotica.

[underused]

I do some fist-shaking, too, ha. We're on satellite; every once in a while, it just craps out and, you know, what can we do? It's a SATELLITE.

I had some big comment all set last night, but I feel like the nipples took us in a different direction. ☺

[merikuru]

Friggin satellites, man. We were looking into satellite internet but we're basically in a hole - surrounded by bluffs on all four sides, so we literally have no line of sight to any satellites...

Nipples tend to do that. :D

[underused]

"Surrounded by bluffs" sounds beautiful, though. ☺

The thing out here is that, other than dial-up, satellite is literally the only option. We're still on a rotary phone system (!) and there's no cable. Honestly, it's not bad (omg dial-up is so much worse), but any kind of bad weather just knocks it out.

[merikuru]

I know that feel actually; my dad's cousin has an elk farm in Wisconsin and is in the same sort of situation (except I don't think she can even get dialup.) It just seems so odd in today's high speed world!