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Evening is the period in which the daylight is decreasing, between the late afternoon and night, around the time when dinner is taken. Though the term is subjective, evening is typically understood to begin before sunset, during the close of the standard business day (about 6 pm) – and extend until dusk, the beginning of night. Evening thus spans the period of twilight, but begins before it and depending on definition may extend past its end.
In the rural American South, "evening" ["eev-nin"] is often used to describe the entire late afternoon, especially when the main meal of the day, dinner, is taken in the early afternoon; evening is thus anytime after dinner.
Biblical Definition of "Evening"
A formal definition is used for religious purposes. For instance, the Israelite priesthood of the Old Testament in the Bible, was required to perform certain duties "at even(ing)". However, this definition is controversial. There are two prevailing views:
- The last quarter of the daylight portion of the day, before sunset. This view was held by the Jewish Pharisees and is supported in historical references such as Josephus and the Bible.
- The twilight before dark, after sunset. This view was held by the Samaritans and the Karaites.
The Bible uses a term for the period of time between two distinct evenings: "beyn ha arbayim" translated as "between the two days". Though both of the above camps define one of the evenings as sunset, the other is controversial. From the passages in Matthew 27:46, 57 and Mark 15:34, 42, the New Testament clearly supports the first evening to be the ninth 'hour' of the day (an hour in the Bible defined as 1/12th of the daylight portion of the day), and the second evening, that ends the day, at sunset.
Things that happen in the evening
Some flowers, like the evening primrose open their petals only during this time of the day.
The "evening newspapers" are newspapers that are printed late in order to include last-hour news and are usually available only after noon.
The "evening star" is a name for the planet Venus, which can appear brilliantly on the western sky after sunset, being also the first 'star' that can be seen.
See also
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Look up evening in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
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Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 24 December 2008, at 19:02.
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