Middle English Dictionary Entry
vesper n.
Entry Info
| Forms | vesper n. Pl. vespers, vespres, (error) versepars. |
| Etymology | L vesper & OF vespre, AF vesper. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) The planet Venus, regarded as the evening star;
(b) eccl. pl. the sixth of the seven canonical hours, or the formal services of the divine office offered at that hour.
Associated quotations
a
- (a1393) Gower CA (Frf 3)4.3209 : Whan that thi liht is faded…Vesper scheweth him alofte.
- (a1398) Trev.Barth.(Add 27944:Seymour)482/3 : Venus…folewiþ þe sonne and þanne he is iclepid Vesper, an eue sterre.
b
- a1475(?1445) ?Lydg.Cal.(Rwl B.408)207 : Make us, Seynt Crystyn, heuenly lepars…Bryng us to, Seynt Anne, to oure verse pars [vrr. vespers, vespres].