early-evening

The compound 'early-evening' is a transparent English formation, combining two native Germanic temporal words. 'Early' originates from the Old English ǣr, meaning 'soon' or 'before', which evolved to denote the initial part of any time span. 'Evening' descends from Old English ǣfen, referring to the latter part of the day as daylight fades. The compound logic is straightforward: it specifies a subdivision within the evening period, pinpointing the time shortly after afternoon transitions into night. This modern compound follows a common English pattern of using an adjective to precisely modify a noun of time, creating a specific and useful collocation.

Structure: early (temporal) + evening (time period) - early: From Old English ǣrlice (adverb), from ǣr (soon, before). Of Germanic origin. Functions as a temporal modifier meaning 'near the beginning of a period'. - evening: From Old English ǣfnung, from ǣfen (evening). Of Germanic origin. Functions as the core noun denoting the period of time between afternoon and night.