ποθ-έσπερα

Grammatical information: m.

Meaning: `evening' (Od.), adj. `of the evening, western', also substant. `evening-star' (Il.); ἑσπέρα, Ion. - ρη f. `evening, west' (Pi., Ion.-Att., like ἡμέρα).

Compounds: As 2. member in ἐφέσπερος `western' (S. OC 1059 [lyr.]), ἀκρ-έσπερος `on the edge of evening, at nightfall' (Arist., Theoc., Hp. etc., - ιος AP), ποθ-έσπερα adv. (Theoc.), προσ-εσπέριος (Arist.)

Derivatives: ἑσπέριος `of the evening, westerrn' (Φ 560), subst. Έσπερία `West, Hesperia' (Agathyll. ap. D. H. 1, 49), Ϝεσπάριοι name of the western Locrians (V^a), f. ἑσπερίς, esp. in plur. as PN `the Hesperides' (Hes.); later ἑσπερινός `id.' (X., LXX, Schwyzer 490); ἑσπερικός `id.' (Juba), ἑσπερίτης, - ῖτις ( χώρα; D. L.; Redard Les noms grecs en - της 112). - Denomin. verb ἑσπερίζω `pass the night' (Doroth.; NGr. σπερίζω, cf. Kretschmer Glotta 11, 247) with ἑσπέρισμα (Lex. ap. Ath. 1, 11 d).

Origin: IE [Indo-European] [1173] *u̯e-kʷsp-er-os `to(wards) the night, evening'

Etymology: Inherited word, identical with Lat. vesper, -ī `evening'; further to Lith. vãkaras, OCS večerъ `evening', which go back to *u̯ekeros, and in Celtic, e. g. Welsh ucher, and Arm. gišer. See e.g. W.-Hofmann s. vesper. - This difficult puzzle has recently been solved. Armenian had *e which became ei \> i before š, ž. The š can go back to - k(ʷ)s- (cf. vec` \< *u̯eks beside veš-tasan); s. Beekes, FS Rasmussen 2004, 59-62. Combined with the -k- and - sp- reconstructed for the other languages (above), this gives a group - k(ʷ)sp-. This group has been identified with Skt. kṣap- `night', of which the zero grade has been found in Hitt. i-spant- `night'. Welsh ucher can continue *u̯e followed by ks(p) or sp. The first element is probably cognate with Lat. uē- as in uē-sanus. The meaning will have been `(what stretches) to(wards) the night'. For the - er- cf. words connected with time like Gr. νυκτερός.

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