Emily Dickinson Lexicon

E'VEN, or EVE, n. [e'vn; Sax. æfen, efen; D. avond; G. abend; Sw. afton; Dan. aften; Ice. afftan. Qu. Ch. פניא, from פנה fanah, to turn, to decline. The evening is the decline of the day, or fall of the sun.]

1. The decline of the sun; the latter part or close of the day, and beginning of the night. Eve is used chiefly in poetry. In prose, we generally use evening. Winter, oft at eve, resumes the breeze. Thomson. They, like so many Alexanders, / Have in these parts from morn till even fought. Shak.
2. Eve is used also for the fast or the evening before a holiday; as, Christmas Eve. Johnson.