This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
eve
[ eev ]
/ iv /
Save This Word!
This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
noun
(sometimes initial capital letter) the evening or the day before a holiday, church festival, or any date or event: Christmas Eve; the eve of an execution.
the period preceding or leading up to any event, crisis, etc.: on the eve of the American Revolution.
the evening.
QUIZ
THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?
Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.
Question 1 of 7
In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…
Origin of eve
1200–50; Middle English; variant of even2
Words nearby eve
Other definitions for eve (2 of 2)
Eve
[ eev ]
/ iv /
noun
name of the first woman: wife of Adam and progenitor of the human race. Genesis 3:20.
a female given name: from a Hebrew word meaning “life.”
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use eve in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for eve (1 of 2)
eve
/ (iːv) /
noun
- the evening or day before some special event or festival
- (capital when part of a name)New Year's Eve
the period immediately before an eventon the eve of civil war
an archaic word for evening
Word Origin for eve
C13: variant of even ²
British Dictionary definitions for eve (2 of 2)
Eve
/ (iːv) /
noun
Old Testament the first woman; mother of the human race, fashioned by God from the rib of Adam (Genesis 2:18-25)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for eve
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with eve
eve
see on the eve of.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.