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vespers

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vespers¹

  • /ˈvɛspɝz/ US

Where it comes from

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.

noun

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

noun

  1. plural plural of vesper

Vespers²

proper noun

  1. A Christian service held in the late afternoon or early evening; evensong

Translations

Every language

noun evening canonical hour

Portuguêsvésperas
Françaisvêpres
DeutschVesper
Italianovespri
ΕλληνικάΕσπερινός Esperinós
Русскийвече́рня večérnja

name A Christian service held in the late afternoon or early evening

Españolvísperas
Françaisvêpres
DeutschVesper
Italianovespro

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Cite this
MLA

"vespers." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/vespers. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

vespers. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/vespers

Chicago

"vespers." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/vespers.

BibTeX
@misc{vespers_2026,
  title = {vespers},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/vespers},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}