evergreen

evergreen

See also: Evergreen

English

Etymology

From ever +‎ green.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɛvəɡɹiːn/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (US) enPR: ěvʹərgrēn, IPA^(key): /ˈɛvɚɡɹin/

Adjective

evergreen (not comparable)

1. Of plants, especially trees, that do not shed their leaves seasonally.

   Synonym: sempervirent

   Antonym: deciduous

   • 1902: Henry Van Dyke, The Blue Flower

     ...these three little creeping vines put forth their hands with joy, and spread over rock and hillock and twisted tree-root and mouldering log, in cloaks and scarves and wreaths of tiny evergreen, glossy leaves.

2. (often figuratively) Continually fresh or self-renewing.
   1. (contracts) Being a clause which causes an automatic renewal of a contract unless action is taken.
   2. (computing) Of a document, a piece of software, or a dataset, being continually up-to-date (as opposed to being published at regular intervals and outdated in the meantime)
      • 2014, Peter Gasston, Book of CSS3, 2nd Edition: A Developer's Guide to the Future of Web Design, No Starch Press, →ISBN, page 257:

        Chrome and Firefox are evergreen browsers: they update automatically and version numbers are only used for internal reference.

3. (broadcasting) Suitable for transmission at any time; not urgent or time-dependent.

   Synonym: timeless

   • 2001, Christopher H Sterling, John M Kittross, Stay Tuned (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates 2001, p. 654)

     Another change in the news was emphasis on “evergreen” features involving attractive children or animals, parades or fireworks, as well as local developments.

Derived terms

• evergreen industry
• evergreenness
• evergreen oak
• evergreen wood fern
• half-evergreen
• semi-evergreen, semievergreen

 

Translations

of plants, that do not shed their leaves

Belarusian: вечназялёны (vječnazjaljóny) Breton: padus o delioù, pourc'hidik Bulgarian: вечнозеле́н (večnozelén) Chinese: Mandarin: 常青 (zh) (chángqīng), 常綠／常绿 (zh) (chánglǜ) Czech: stálezelený (cs) m Danish: stedsegrøn (da) Dutch: groenblijvend Esperanto: ĉiamverda Finnish: ainavihanta (fi), ikivihanta (fi), ikivihreä (fi) French: à feuilles persistantes, sempervirent (fr) Georgian: მარადმწვანე (maradmc̣vane) German: immergrün (de) Greek: αειθαλής (el) (aeithalís) Ancient: ἀειθαλής (aeithalḗs) Hebrew: יְרֹק־עַד / ירוק עד‎ (he) m (yarók ‘ad) Hindi: सदाबहार (hi) (sadābhār) Hungarian: örökzöld (hu) Icelandic: sígrænn (is) m, vetrargrænn m Irish: síorghlas Italian: sempreverde (it) Japanese: 常緑 (ja) (じょうりょく, jōryoku) Kannada: ನಿತ್ಯಹರಿದ್ವರ್ಣ (nityaharidvarṇa) Korean: 상록의 (sangnogui), 상록 (sangnok) Lithuanian: visžalis Manx: sheer-ghlass Maori: māotaota, raumāota Norwegian: Bokmål: eviggrønn Nynorsk: eviggrøn Old Norse: ægrǿnn, sígrǿnn Polish: zimozielony (pl) Portuguese: sempre-verde (pt) Romanian: sempervirescent (ro) Russian: вечнозелёный (ru) (večnozeljónyj) Scottish Gaelic: bith-bheò, sìor-bheò, sìor-uaine, sìor-ghorm Spanish: perennifolio (es) Swedish: städsegrön (sv), vintergrön Telugu: సతతహరిత (satataharita), సస్యశ్యామల (sasyaśyāmala) Turkish: her dem yeşil, yaprak dökmeyen Ukrainian: вічнозеле́ний (vičnozelényj) Vietnamese: thường xanh Volapük: laidagrünik Welsh: bytholwyrdd

Noun

evergreen (plural evergreens)

1. A shrub or tree that does not shed its leaves or needles seasonally.
   • 1838, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter I, in Alice or The Mysteries: […] , volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], OCLC 2844716, book I, page 3:

     The lawn before them was gay with evergreens, relieved by the first few flowers and fresh turf of the reviving Spring; […]

   • 1912, Thomas Hardy, “An Imaginative Woman”, in Life’s Little Ironies […], New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, OCLC 10398752, page 5:

     Husband and wife walked till they had reached the house they were in search of, which stood in a terrace facing the sea, and was fronted by a small garden of wind-proof and salt-proof evergreens, stone steps leading up to the porch.

2. (specifically, informal) A conifer tree.
   • 1858, Henry David Thoreau, The Maine Woods :

     The spruce and fir trees crowded to the track on each side to welcome us, the arbor- vitae, with its changing leaves, prompted us to make haste, and the sight of the canoe-birch gave us spirits to do so. Sometimes an evergreen just fallen lay across the track with its rich burden of cones, looking, still, fuller of life than our trees in the most favorable positions.

   • 1958 March 31, Chuck Berry (lyrics and music), “Johnny B. Goode”, performed by Chuck Berry:

     Deep down in Louisiana, close to New Orleans, / Way back up in the woods among the evergreens, / There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood / Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode

3. (mass media, informal) A news story that can be published or broadcast at any time.

Derived terms

• Chinese evergreen

Descendants

• → Danish: evergreen
• → Finnish: evergreen
• → Italian: evergreen
• → Swedish: evergreen

Translations

tree or shrub

Breton: gwezenn bourc'hidik f, gwez padus o delioù Chinese: Mandarin: 常青樹／常青树 (chángqīngshù) Esperanto: ĉiamverdo Finnish: ikivihreä (fi), ainavihanta kasvi French: arbre à feuillage persistant m, arbre à feuilles persistantes m Georgian: მარადმწვანე მცენარე (maradmc̣vane mcenare) German: immergrüne Pflanze f Irish: crann síorghlas m Portuguese: sempre-verde (pt) m Romanian: arbore sempervirescent m (tree), arbust sempervirescent m (shrub) Russian: вечнозелёное расте́ние n (večnozeljónoje rasténije) Scottish Gaelic: craobh shìor-ghorm f

Verb

evergreen (third-person singular simple present evergreens, present participle evergreening, simple past and past participle evergreened)

1. (patent law, pharmaceuticals) To extend the term of a patent beyond the normal legal limit, usually through repeated small modifications.
2. (banking) To set the repayment rate of a loan at or below the interest rate, so low that the principal will never be repaid.

Further reading

• evergreen on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• evergreening on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

---

Finnish

Etymology

From English evergreen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeʋørɡriːn/, [ˈe̞ʋø̞rɡriːn]

Noun

evergreen

1. (anglicism) evergreen (evergreen song, song that is ever popular)

Declension

Inflection of evergreen (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		evergreen	evergreenit
genitive		evergreenin	evergreenien
partitive		evergreeniä	evergreenejä
illative		evergreeniin	evergreeneihin
		singular	plural
nominative		evergreen	evergreenit
accusative	nom.	evergreen	evergreenit
	gen.	evergreenin
genitive		evergreenin	evergreenien
partitive		evergreeniä	evergreenejä
inessive		evergreenissä	evergreeneissä
elative		evergreenistä	evergreeneistä
illative		evergreeniin	evergreeneihin
adessive		evergreenillä	evergreeneillä
ablative		evergreeniltä	evergreeneiltä
allative		evergreenille	evergreeneille
essive		evergreeninä	evergreeneinä
translative		evergreeniksi	evergreeneiksi
instructive		—	evergreenein
abessive		evergreenittä	evergreeneittä
comitative		—	evergreeneineen

Possessive forms of evergreen (type risti)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	evergreenini	evergreenimme
2nd person	evergreenisi	evergreeninne
3rd person	evergreeninsä

Synonyms

• ikivihreä

---

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English evergreen.

Adjective

evergreen (invariable)

1. evergreen (always in style)

Noun

evergreen m (invariable)

1. a song or singer that is always in style
2. (finance) revolving credit

Further reading

• evergreen in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

---

Swedish

Etymology

From English evergreen.

Noun

evergreen c

1. classic song, evergreen song, song that is ever popular

Declension

Declension of evergreen
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	evergreen	evergreenen	evergreener	evergreenerna
Genitive	evergreens	evergreenens	evergreeners	evergreenernas

Synonyms

• klassiker

Further reading

• evergreen in Svensk ordbok.