Definition of EVE

eve

Plural: eves

Noun

  • The day or evening before a holiday or event.
  • (Old Testament) Adam's wife in Judeo-Christian mythology: the first woman and mother of the human race; God created Eve from Adam's rib and placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden
  • the day before
    • "he always arrives on the eve of her departure"
  • the period immediately before something
    • "on the eve of the French Revolution"
  • the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
    • "he enjoyed the evening light across the lake"
  • The day or night before, usually used for holidays, such as Christmas Eve.
  • Evening, night.
  • The period of time when something is just about to happen or to be introduced

Examples

  • On the EVE of the Scrabble tournament, he practiced diligently.
  • the eve of a scientific discovery

Origin / Etymology

From a variant of the Middle English noun even (itself from Old English ǣfen), with a pre-1200 loss of the terminal '-n', which was mistaken for an inflection. See also the now archaic or poetic even (“evening”), from the same source.
In medieval Europe, days were considered to extend from sunset to sunset rather than midnight to midnight, so the night before a holiday was considered part of it, hence its "eve".

Antonyms

evening, winter

Scrabble Score: 6

eve: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
eve: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
eve: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 7

eve: valid Words With Friends Word