Meanings
eve1
plural eves
- The day or night before, usually used for holidays, such as Christmas Eve.
She died on the eve of her 100th birthday.
- archaicpoeticEvening, night.
on a cold winter's eve.
3 more examples
I love to see the shaking twig / Dance till the shut of eve
Mid-19th century, John Clare, AutumnAnd has she tired of weeping / As she lies down at eve.
1896, A[lfred] E[dward] Housman, chapter XXVII, in A Shropshire Lad, lines 42–43Sitting on the dockside at Oban, watching the to-ing and fro-ing in the harbour on a perfect summer's eve, I reflect on a trip which has taken me through our busiest cities to traverse the country's main lines, as well as explore some of the furthest extremities that were literally out on a limb.
2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 79Synonyms: een
Eve2
- biblicalThe first woman and mother of the human race; Adam's wife.
And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 3:201 more example
After all these years, I see that I was mistaken about Eve in the beginning; it is better to live outside the Garden with her than inside it without her.
1904, Mark Twain, Extracts from Adam's Diary - An unspecified primordial woman, from whom many or all people are descended.
The Seven Daughters of Eve; Mitochondrial Eve
- A female given name from Hebrew.
1 more example
"You were always a cynic," said Edith tolerantly. "I'm sure that Eve will want to have a baby - isn't that why we called her Eve?" "Of course not," said Herbert, as if the baby-cult had long been irritating him. "We called her Eve, or Evelyn, after your grandmother, who was going to leave, and did leave us some money."
1970, L.P.Hartley, My Sister's Keeper, page 113
Eve3
Eve4
- An English surname.
Eve5
- alternativeAlternative spelling of Ewe.
EVE6
Synonyms & antonyms
nounEvening, night.
nounThe period of time when something is just about to happen or to be introduced
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
eve · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁ep-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éps
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁épi
- Proto-Germanic*ēbanþs
- Proto-West Germanic*ābanþ
- Old Englishǣfen
- Middle Englisheven
- Middle Englisheve
- Englisheve
Inherited from Middle English eve, variant of even (itself from Old English ǣfen), with a pre-1200 loss of the terminal '-n'. 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".
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Eve · proper noun
- Biblical Hebrewחַוָּה
- Ancient GreekΕὔα
- LatinEva
- Old EnglishĒua
- Middle EnglishEve
- EnglishEve
From Middle English Eve, Eue, from Old English Ēua, Ēfe, from Latin Eva, from Ancient Greek Εὔα (Eúa), from Biblical Hebrew חַוָּה (ḥawwā).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Eve · proper noun
Either a variant of Eaves or a matronymic from the given name.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek Εὔα, Εὕα
- Εὔα (Eúa)the first woman
- Εὕα (Heúa)given name
Arabic حَوَّاء, حَوَّاء
- حَوَّاء (ḥawwāʔ)the first woman
- حَوَّاء (ḥawwāʔ)given name
- أِيف (ʔīf)given name
Bengali হাওয়া, হবা
- হাওয়া (haōẇa)the first woman
- হবা (hoba)the first woman
- হাওয়া (haōẇa)given name
Bulgarian навечерие, Е́ва
- навечерие (navečerie)day or night before
- Е́ва (Éva)the first woman
Catalan vigília, Eva
- vigíliaday or night before
- Evagiven name
Chinese Cantonese 夏娃
- 夏娃 (haa⁶ waa¹)the first woman
Chinese Mandarin 前夕, 前夜
- 前夕 (qiánxī)day or night before
- 前夜 (qiányè)day or night before
- 夏娃 (Xiàwá)the first woman
- 厄娃 (Èwá)the first woman
- 伊芙 (Yīfú)given name
- 伊夫 (Yīfū)given name
Czech předvečer, Eva
- předvečerday or night before
- Evathe first woman
- Evagiven name
Danish Eva, Eva
- Evathe first woman
- Evagiven name
Dutch vooravond, vigilie
- vooravondday or night before
- vigilieday or night before
- Evathe first woman
- Evagiven name
Esperanto antaŭvespero, Evo
- antaŭvesperoday or night before
- Evothe first woman
Estonian Eeva, Eva
- Eevathe first woman
- Evagiven name
Finnish aatto, Eeva
- aattoday or night before
- Eevathe first woman
- Eevagiven name
French veille, Ève
- veilleday or night before
- Èvethe first woman
- Èvegiven name
German Vorabend, Eva
- Vorabendday or night before
- Evathe first woman
- Evegiven name
- Evagiven name
Greek παραμονή, Εύα
- παραμονή (paramoní)day or night before
- Εύα (Éva)the first woman
- Εύα (Éva)given name
- Εύη (Évi)given name
Hawaiian ʻEwa, ʻEwa
- ʻEwathe first woman
- ʻEwagiven name
Hebrew עֶרֶב, חַוָּה
- עֶרֶב ('érev)day or night before
- חַוָּה (khavá)the first woman
- חַוָּה (khavá)given name
Hindi हव्वा, ईव
- हव्वा (havvā)the first woman
- ईव (īv)given name
Hungarian előeste, Éva
- előesteday or night before
- Évathe first woman
- Évagiven name
Icelandic Eva
- Evagiven name
Indonesian Hawa, Hava
- Hawathe first woman
- Havagiven name
Irish oíche, oíche cheann féile
- oícheday or night before
- oíche cheann féileday or night before
- Éabhathe first woman
- Éabhagiven name
Italian vigilia, Eva
- vigiliaday or night before
- Evathe first woman
- Evagiven name
Japanese 前夜, イブ
- 前夜 (zen'ya)day or night before
- イブ (Ibu)the first woman
- イヴ (Ivu)the first woman
- イブ (Ibu)given name
- イヴ (Ivu)given name
Korean 하와, 이브
- 하와 (Hawa)the first woman
- 이브 (Ibeu)given name
Latin vesper, Eva
- vesperday or night before
- Evathe first woman
- Evagiven name
Latvian priekšvakars, Ieva
- priekšvakarsday or night before
- Ievathe first woman
- Ievagiven name
Lithuanian i̇̀švakarės, Ievà
- i̇̀švakarėsday or night before
- Ievàthe first woman
- Ievàgiven name
Malay ambang, Hawa
- ambangperiod of time when something is about to happen
- Hawathe first woman
- Hawagiven name
Norwegian Eva
- Evagiven name
Norwegian Bokmål aften, Eva
- aftenday or night before
- Evathe first woman
Persian حوا
- حوا (havvâ)the first woman
Polish wigilia, przeddzień
- wigiliaday or night before
- przeddzieńday or night before
- Ewathe first woman
- Ewagiven name
Portuguese véspera, Eva
- vésperaday or night before
- Evathe first woman
- Evagiven name
Punjabi ਹੱਵਾ, ਹਵਾ
- ਹੱਵਾ (havvā)the first woman
- ਹਵਾ (havā)the first woman
- ਈਵ (īva)the first woman
- ਈਵ (īva)given name
Romanian ajun, preziuă
- ajunday or night before
- preziuăday or night before
- Evathe first woman
Russian кану́н, кану́н
- кану́н (kanún)day or night before
- кану́н (kanún)period of time when something is about to happen
- преддве́рие (preddvérije)period of time when something is about to happen
- Е́ва (Jéva)the first woman
- Е́ва (Jéva)given name
- Ив (Iv)given name
Scottish Gaelic Eubha, Eubha
- Eubhathe first woman
- Eubhagiven name
Slovak Eva, Eva
- Evathe first woman
- Evagiven name
Spanish víspera, vigilia
- vísperaday or night before
- vigiliaday or night before
- trasnochadaday or night before
- Evathe first woman
- Evagiven name
Swahili Hawa
- Hawathe first woman
Swedish afton, Eva
- aftonday or night before
- Evathe first woman
- Evagiven name
Tagalog bisperas, Eba
- bisperasday or night before
- Ebathe first woman
Tamil ஏவாள்
- ஏவாள் (ēvāḷ)the first woman
Thai อีฟ, เอวา
- อีฟ (èef)the first woman
- เอวา (wao)the first woman
Turkish arefe, akşam
- arefeday or night before
- akşamday or night before
- Havvathe first woman
- Havvagiven name
Ukrainian передде́нь, Є́ва
- передде́нь (pereddénʹ)day or night before
- Є́ва (Jéva)the first woman
- Е́ва (Éva)the first woman
Urdu رات
- رات (rāt)day or night before
Vietnamese Ê-va
- Ê-vathe first woman
Welsh Efa
- Efathe first woman
Yiddish חווה
- חווה (khave)the first woman
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with eve
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
eve. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/eve
“eve.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/eve. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “eve,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/eve.
Source: eve on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.