LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinevariously declined, second declension, third declension

vesper

vesper m (genitive vesperī or vesperis)
Classical[ˈwɛs.pɛr]Ecclesiastical[ˈvɛs.per]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. the evening or vespers
    sed Antonius venit heri vesperi.But Antony arrived yesterday evening. Note the use of the locative vesperi; 'in the evening'.68 BCE – 44 BCE, Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum 10.11.4
  2. supper, dinner (evening meal)
  3. broadlythe evening star
  4. broadlythe West

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

ultima pars diēī, cum sōl cadit.
vesper -erī m — in Mille Verba, Tempus et Numerī
evening
vesper — in Seneca, ch. XIII

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativevespervesperī
vesperēs
genitivevesperī
vesperis		vesperōrum
vesperum
dativevesperō
vesperī		vesperīs
vesperibus
accusativevesperum
vesperem		vesperōs
vesperēs
ablativevespere
vesperō		vesperīs
vesperibus
vocativevespervesperī
vesperēs
locativevesperī—

vesper, ĕris and ĕri (in class. prose mostly acc. vesperum, and abl. vespere, or adverb. vesperi; the plur. not used), m. (
I. neutr., Varr. L. L. 7, § 50 and 9, § 73 Müll. acc. to Lachm.) [Gr. ἕσπερος, ἑσπέρα], the evening, even, eve, even-tide.
I. Lit.: jam diei vesper erat, Sall. J. 52, 3; 106, 2: vesper fit (late Lat. for advesperascit), Vulg. Matt. 14, 15; 16, 2; 26, 20: ad vesperum, Cic. Lael. 3, 12; id. Fin. 2, 28, 92 Madv.; 3, 2, 8; Caes. B. C. 1, 3; id. B. G. 1, 26: sub vesperum, towards evening, id. ib. 2, 33; 5, 58; 7, 60; id. B. C. 1, 42.—Prov.: nescis, quid vesper serus vehat, the title of a satire by Varro, Gell. 13, 11, 1; Macr. S. 1, 7; cf.: denique, quid vesper serus vehat, Verg. G. 1, 461: cum quid vesper ferat, incertum sit, Liv. 45, 8: de vesperi suo vivere, on his own supper, i. e. to be one's own master, Plaut. Mil. 4, 2, 5; cf. id. Rud. 1, 2, 91.—
B. Esp., abl. adverb., in the evening.
1. Form vespere: primo vespere, Caes. B. C. 2, 43: litteras reddidit a. d. VIII. Id. Mart. vespere, Cic. Att. 11, 12, 1.—
2. Form vesperi: cum ad me in Tusculanum heri vesperi venisset Caesar, Cic. de Or. 2, 3, 13; id. Ac. 1, 1, 1; id. Mil. 20, 54; Plaut. Bacch. 2, 3, 62; id. Mil. 2, 5, 29; id. Rud. 1, 2, 91; Ter. And. 4, 4, 29: neque tam vesperi revortor, so late, id. Heaut. 1, 1, 15: primā vesperi (sc. horā), Caes. B. C. 1, 20.—
II. Transf.
A. The evening-star, Plin. 2, 8, 6, § 36; Verg. G. 1, 251: vespero surgente, Hor. C. 2, 9, 10: puro Vespero, id. ib. 3, 19, 26.—
B. The West, Occident, Ov. Tr. 1, 2, 28; id. M. 1, 63: vespere ab atro, Verg. A. 5, 19.—Hence, for the inhabitants of the West, Occidentals, Sil. 3, 325.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kʷséps?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*wek⁽ʷ⁾speros
  3. Proto-Italic*wesperos
  4. Latinvesper

Inherited from Proto-Italic *wesperos, from Proto-Indo-European *wek⁽ʷ⁾speros. Cognates include Ancient Greek ἕσπερος (hésperos), Old Church Slavonic вєчєръ (večerŭ) and Old Armenian գիշեր (gišer).

Elsewhere
  • Italianvespro
  • Frenchvêprefrom Old French vespre
  • Englishvesperfrom Old French vespre
  • Frenchvêpresfrom Old French vespre
  • Englishvespersfrom Old French vespre
  • Spanishvéspero
  • Dalmatianviaspro
  • Esperantovespero
  • Piedmontesevespr
  • Piedmontesevésper
Old Occitan
  • Catalanvespre
Old Galician-Portuguese
  • Portuguesevésper

Quick answers

What does vesper mean in Latin?
vesper, a noun, means “the evening or vespers; supper, dinner (evening meal); the evening star”.
What is the genitive of vesper?
The genitive singular is vesperī. vesper is masculine, variously declined, second declension, third declension.
How do you pronounce vesper?
In classical Latin, [ˈwɛs.pɛr]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈvɛs.per].
Where does vesper come from?
Proto-Indo-European *kʷséps? → Proto-Indo-European *wek⁽ʷ⁾speros → Proto-Italic *wesperos → Latin vesper.