evening starn.
/ˌiːvnɪŋ ˈstɑː/, U.S. /ˌiv(ə)nɪŋ ˈstɑr/ A star, planet, or other celestial object that is visible in the western sky after sunset; spec. (with the) the planet Venus when prominent in the west after sunset. Also figurative and in figurative context.
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the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > inferior planet > [noun] > Venus > as evening star
evenstarOE
Hesperusc1374
eve stara1387
vesper1390
evening star1535
night star1595
Vesperugo1600
shepherd's lamp1827
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms lxiv. [lxv.] 8 Thou makest both the mornynge and euenynge starres to prayse ye.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost viii. 519 Till the amorous Bird of Night..bid haste the Eevning Starr On his Hill top.
1681 A. Storer Let. 18 Apr. in I. Newton Corr. (1960) II. 368 It was not seene..with us till I suppoase..it became an Evening star, wch was..december the 16th that ye Comet appeared.
1744 B. Franklin Poor Richard, 1745 The brightest of the five is Venus... It is called Phosphorus, or the Morning Star, and Hesperus, or the Evening Star, when it follows the Sun.
1781 W. Cowper Retirem. 46 Ere we yet discern life's evening star.
1812 Belfast Monthly Mag. Mar. 244 Mercury is an evening star, at his greatest elongation on the 19th.
1819 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto I cxxii. 64 'Tis sweet to see the evening star appear.
1895 K. Tynan Miracle Plays 13 On his head a glory crown Fine as the evening star.
1943 S. N. Behrman Pirate i. i. 23 Ines Pedro, my rising sun. Pedro, my evening star. Pedro None of your palaver. It's no good any more.
1955 Times 2 May 18/7 Neptune is an evening star in Virgo.
1997 B. Morrow Giovanni's Gift ii. 181 I could see the evening star beginning to glimmer in the violet dark above her, very faint still.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1535