æfen

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *ēbanþs. Cognate with Old Frisian ēvend, Old Saxon avand, āƀand (Low Low German Avend), Old Dutch avont (Dutch avond), Old High German āband (German Abend), Old Norse aptann, aptunn, eptann (Danish aften, Swedish afton).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæː.fen/, [ˈæː.ven]

Noun

ǣfen m

1. evening

   Hē ġemētte hīe on his līfes ǣfenne.

   He met her in the evening of his life.

2. eve: the day/evening/night before something

   Mōnanǣfen ― Sunday evening

   Cristes mæsseǣfen ― Christmas Eve

3. (Christianity) vespers

Declension

Declension of æfen (strong a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	ǣfen	ǣfennas
accusative	ǣfen	ǣfennas
genitive	ǣfennes	ǣfenna
dative	ǣfenne	ǣfennum

Synonyms

• (hour): ǣfentīd, ǣfentīma
• (vespers): ǣfendreām, ǣfengebēd, ǣfenhrepsung, ǣfensang

Derived terms

Derived terms

• ǣfendreām
• ǣfengebēd
• ǣfengereord
• ǣfengereordian
• ǣfengifl
• ǣfenglōm
• ǣfengrom
• ǣfenhrepsung
• ǣfenlāc
• ǣfenlǣcan
• ǣfenleōht
• ǣfenleōþ
• ǣfenlīc

• ǣfenmete
• ǣfenrest
• ǣfenrima
• ǣfensang
• ǣfensceōp
• ǣfenscīma
• ǣfenspræc
• ǣfensteorra
• ǣfenþēnung
• ǣfenþeōwdōm
• ǣfentīd
• ǣfentīma
• ǣfentungel
• ǣfnung
• ġiestranǣfen
• Mōnanǣfen

Descendants

• Middle English: even
  • English: even, eve

References

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “ǢFEN”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.