Friday afternoon, as I sat listening to Gabriele Glang and Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda read their work at the Poetry Society of Virginia‘s Annual Poetry Festival and Conference, a new word, nestled in the middle of a poem, stood out to me: “vespertine.”
An adjective, “vespertine” means “thriving during the evening” or “pertaining to the evening.” It can be used in reference to plants whose blooms open in the evening as opposed to during the day, as well as to nocturnal animals. It can also be used to describe anything that occurs in the evening–sunset, twilight, a certain type of light, a soft breeze, a certain sound specific to the coming night.
Below are some photographs that I think fairly illustrate the spirit of the word “vespertine,” as well as captions that utilize the word in a sentence.
This word would be an exceptional one to add imagery to a scene, as well as to establish its time of day and the mood. Employ it! You have been linguistically empowered.
Past Words of the Week:
