A Friend in West Virginia, Part Fifteen

Last year's New Year's Eve (20015/2016) my friend in Clarksburg and I spent all evening emailing. I mean all evening, over 100 emails. He sent me this...

WORD HISTORY:
Even/Eve/Evening/Eventide-These words are all closely related, coming from the same source; of course, in this case, "even" is NOT the word meaning "level, or the same height." The origin of the words is not a certainty, but they appear to go back to Indo European "epi," which had the meanings of "by, near, at, on." This then gave Old Germanic "ebantho," which meant, "near sunset, near the end of daylight;" thus, "evening." This gave Old English "æfen," which meant, "evening." This then became "even," and it has remained in use, although in more modern times as a poetic way of saying "evening." In the late 1100s, the shortened form of "even" came into use also, "eve." Then during the 1300s, "eve" took on the meaning, "the evening before a special event or holiday;" especially in those times, often used regarding religious celebrations. The meaning later broadened to "day before a holiday or special event," the meaning it primarily still has today. "Evening" was actually already around in Old English as "æfnung." Old English also had the compound "æfentid," another way to say "evening," and which became modern "eventide." ^ Relatives of "evening" (and "eve" and "even") in the other Germanic languages: German "Abend," Low German Saxon "Avend," Dutch "avond," West Frisian "jûn, ^^ Danish "aften," Norwegian "aften/aftan," Icelandic "aftann," Swedish "afton."

^ For the history of the word "tide," here is the link to the article with its Word History:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2014/12/some-memories-of-germany-photos.html

^^ The West Frisian form is not as recognizable in its modern form, but it goes back to Old Frisian "evend," which became "iond," but then came to be spelled with a beginning "j," which is pronounced like English "y," as the older beginning "io" sound was similar.