# eve

> English word · Noun · IPA /iːv/ · frequency rank #4,155

## Definitions
1. The day or night before, usually used for holidays, such as Christmas Eve.
2. Evening, night.
3. The period of time when something is just about to happen or to be introduced

## Etymology
From a variant of the Middle English noun even (itself from Old English ǣfen), with a pre-1200 loss of the terminal '-n', which was mistaken for an inflection. See also the now archaic or poetic even (“evening”), from the same source.
In medieval Europe, days were considered to extend from sunset to sunset rather than midnight to midnight, so the night before a holiday was considered part of it, hence its "eve".

## Easily confused with
- **ex** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eve-vs-ex)
- **ew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eve-vs-ew)
- **ey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eve-vs-ey)
- **ez** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eve-vs-ez)
- **eye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eve-vs-eye)
- **evo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eve-vs-evo)
- **eww** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eve-vs-eww)
- **exe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eve-vs-exe)
- **ewe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eve-vs-ewe)
- **even** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eve-vs-even)
- **ever** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eve-vs-ever)
- **eyes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eve-vs-eyes)
- **evil** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eve-vs-evil)
- **eyed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eve-vs-eyed)
- **exec** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eve-vs-exec)
- **eyre** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eve-vs-eyre)
- **exes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eve-vs-exes)
- **Evie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eve-vs-evie)
- **every** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eve-vs-every)
- **event** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eve-vs-event)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/eve