vesper noun. ['vɛspǝ] LME.
[Partly from Latin = evening star, evening, corresp. to Greek hesperos HESPERUS; partly from Old French vespres (mod. vêpres) from ecclesiastical Latin vesperas accus. pl. of Latin vespera evening, after matutinas matins (see MATIN noun).]
1. a. (Vesper.) The evening star, Hesperus. poet. & rhet. LME.
b. (An) evening. poet. Now rare. E17.

2. Ecclesiastical. In pl. (occas. treated as sing.) & sing. The sixth of the daytime canonical hours of prayer, orig. appointed for the early evening; the office appointed for this hour. Also, evensong. L15.
Sicilian vespers: see SICILIAN adjective.
b. transf. In pl. The evening song of a bird. poet. L17.
c. In pl. Evening prayers or devotions. poet. E19.

3. a. At Oxford and Cambridge universities, (the day of) the public disputations immediately preceding the inception or commencement of a Bachelor of Arts. L16-E18.
b. Christian Theology. The eve of a festival or of Jesus' crucifixion. Only in 17.

4. In full vesper bell. A bell rung to signal vespers. L18.

Comb.:
vesper mouse any of various large-eared mice of the genus Calomys, found in grassland and scrub in southern S. America; vesper sparrow a small bird, Pooecetes gramineus (family Emberizidae), with streaked brown plumage, found in open country in N. America and known for its evening song.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲