vespers
/ˈvɛsˌpɝz/
vespers
English
Noun Top 45,770
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Definition
The sixth of the seven canonical hours, an evening prayer service
Etymology
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.
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