eaves

English

Etymology

From Middle English eves, from Old English efes (“edge of a roof”), from Proto-Germanic *ubaswa (compare Old High German obasa (“porch, hall, roof”), Gothic 𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌶𐍅𐌰 (ubizwa)), ultimately from the same root as over.

Originally singular, it was only in Early Modern English that the form came to be deemed as plural, from analogy with the unetymological "-s" ending.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iːvz/
• Homophone: eves
• Rhymes: -iːvz

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Noun

Eaves of a house in Catalonia.

1. The underside of a roof that extends beyond the external walls of a building.
   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 16:

     Ar. […] but chiefly / Him that you term'd Sir, the good old Lord Gonzallo, / His teares runs downe his beard like winters drops / From eaues of reeds : […]

Related terms

• eavesdrop
• eaves trough

Translations

underside of a roof

• Bengali: ছাঁইচ (chãic)
• Bulgarian: стря̀ха (bg) f (strjàha), стреха̀ (bg) f (strehà)
• Catalan: ràfec (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 屋檐 (zh) (wūyán), 檐 (zh) (yán)

• Czech: převis střechy m
• Dutch: dakrand (nl)
• Esperanto: alero
• Finnish: räystäs (fi) sg
• French: avant-toit (fr) m, corniche (fr)
• Galician: beiril m, beirado (gl) m, trofa f
• German: Traufe (de) f, Dachüberstand m, Dachüberstand m
• Hungarian: eresz (hu)
• Irish: orla m
• Italian: gronda (it) f sg, grondaia (it) f, cornicione (it) m
• Japanese: 軒 (ja) (noki)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: grunda f
• Macedonian: стреа (strea)
• Maori: ikuiku, hikuhiku, peru, whakamaroke
• Norman: barbe f (Jersey)
• Polish: okap (pl) m
• Portuguese: beiral (pt) m, beirado m
• Russian: карни́з (ru) m (karníz), свес кры́ши m (sves krýši), стреха́ (ru) f (strexá)
• Scottish Gaelic: anainn f
• Serbo-Croatian: streha (sh) sg, streja (sh) sg
• Slovak: odkvapová rímsa f
• Spanish: alero (es) m
• Swedish: ofs c, hofs (sv) c, takfot (sv) c
• Tagalog: balisbisan, sibe
• Vilamovian: traojf f

See also

• eave

Anagrams

• seave