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eve

[ eev ]
/ iv /
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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.
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Origin of eve

1200–50; Middle English; variant of even2

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
  1. the evening or day before some special event or festival
  2. (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

Eve

In the Book of Genesis, the first woman. (See Adam and Eve and Creation.)

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.
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