Event

How to spell event

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce event

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does event mean?

1. nounSomething that happens, especially a planned or notable occasion.

Event in a sentence

• The charity event raised more money than expected.

• Thousands of people attended the sporting event at the stadium.

Where does event come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin eventus, meaning 'an outcome' or 'a result of something happening'. That noun was built on the verb evenire, 'to come out' or 'to come about', formed from the prefix ex- 'out' and venire 'to come'. So an event was literally something that 'came out' of a chain of circumstances, an occurrence or result. English took the word in during the late 1500s, at first stressing the idea of a consequence or outcome before the sense broadened to any notable happening or organised occasion. The same venire root that supplies the 'ven' in event also lives inside 'adventure', 'convene', and 'prevent', all of which involve some kind of coming.

How the word is built

• e- (from ex-: out)
• ven (from venire: to come)
• -t (noun)