Sunset
/ˈsʌnˌsɛt/noun
The time in the evening when the sun disappears below the horizon.
Did you know?Unlike words like “disaster” or “mortgage,” “sunset” is a straightforward native compound, but it still carries the ancient Indo-European solar root that also gave English “sun” and “solar.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sóh₂wl̥
“the sun”
Old English
English
sunne
“the sun”
Old English
English
settan
“to cause to sit, place, set down”
Middle English
English
sunne set
“the setting of the sun”
Modern English
English
sunset
“the time when the sun goes down below the horizon”