Dictionary

evennight en · NOUN

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Old English efnniht, from Proto-West Germanic *ebnanaht (“equinox”), equivalent to even- + night. Cognate with Old Frisian evennacht, ivinnacht, Old Norse jafnnætti. Compare also Dutch nachtevening (“equinox”).

Meanings

1. (Germanic, historical, rare) Equinox.
   • Belly round now with the child. Please bring Grandmother to me. The harvest had been gathered less than a month ago and in three days folk would be celebrating the 'even night', the feast of Mabon, when day and night were equal in length, and beer and wine would be drunk in huge amounts in thanksgiving of the safe bringing in of the earth's bounties. 2016, Joanna Courtney, Helen Hollick, Annie Whitehead, 1066 Turned Upside Down:
   • "I'll be there. At the even-night." Five months away. 2016, Victoria Whitworth, Daughter of the Wolf:
   • Ostara's Day is the first Sunday following the Spring Evennight, which means it can never be later than March 31, even when March 24 is the previous Sunday, and the old date is used, March 25, for the beginning of spring. 1992, Stephen A. McNallen, Maddy Hutter, The Runestone - Volumes 1-12:
   • "I have told the leaders of Kaar that wolves will only come back to the village if a krianan brings them. They are choosing a new krianan at their Spring Festival on Even Night." 2015, Dorothy Hearst, Spirit of the Wolves:

Forms