eaves
/iːvz/US/ivz/
eaves noun: the underside of a roof that extends beyond the external walls of a building. Also the plural of eave.
Noun
eaves pl (plural only)
- The underside of a roof that extends beyond the external walls of a building.
- Him that you term'd Sir, the good old Lord Gonzallo, / His teares runs downe his beard like winters drops / From eaues of reeds: […]1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
- Thus night oft ſee me in thy pale career, / Till civil-ſuited morn appeer, / […] / Or uſher'd with a ſhower ſtill, / When the guſt hath blown his fill, / Ending on the ruſsling Leaves, / With minute drops from off the Eaves.a. 1645, John Milton, “Il Penseroso”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 42
- Something that extends over or projects beyond.
- But after many strains and heaves / He got up to the Saddle eaves.1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]. Canto I.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678...
- The mystic glory swims away; / From off my bed the moonlight dies; / And closing eaves of wearied eyes / I sleep till dusk is dipt in gray: […]1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto LXV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 92
Proper noun capitalized: Eaves
Eaves
- A surname.
- A hamlet in Woodplumpton parish, city of Preston district, Lancashire, England (OS grid ref SD4937).
Also used as
eaves is also the plural of eave.
eaves meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and Assamese
eaves in Hindi
- underside of a roof that extends beyond the external walls of a building
- छज्जा chajjā
eaves in Tamil
- underside of a roof that extends beyond the external walls of a building
- இறப்பு iṟappu, வீட்டிறப்பு vīṭṭiṟappu
eaves in Bengali
- underside of a roof that extends beyond the external walls of a building
- ছাঁইচ chãic
eaves in Assamese
- underside of a roof that extends beyond the external walls of a building
- আগচালি agsali, আওলা aüla, পানীপাচ panipas
More languagesFewer languages
- eaves in Tagalog
- balisbisan, palantikan, sibe
- eaves in Arabic
- طُنْف ṭunf
- eaves in Thai
- ชาย chaai, ชายคา chaai-kaa
Examples of eaves in a sentence
- By my window bowered round with leaves, / And down my cheeks the quick tears ran / Like twinkling rain-drops from the eaves, / When warm spring showers are passing o'er: […]1818 August, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Rosalind and Helen”, in Rosalind and Helen, a Modern Eclogue; with Other Poems, London: […] [C. H....
- Enclose open eaves with noncombustible soffit material.2024 November 10, Alaa Elassar, “As California wildfires become more frequent, people will need to fireproof their homes. Here’s what it...
Forms of eaves
| alternative form | eave |
|---|
Origin of eaves
PIE word *upér From Middle English eves (“projecting lower edge of a roof”) [and other forms], from Old English efes, yfes, *ofes (“edge of a roof”), from Proto-West Germanic *ubisu (“hall”), from Proto-Germanic *ubiswō (compare Gothic 𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌶𐍅𐌰 (ubizwa), Old High German obasa (“hall; porch; roof”)), perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *upér (“above; over”) (whence over).
From eave + -s, from a misinterpretation of the -s ending of eaves as forming a plural.
English surname, from Middle English atte evese (“at the border, edge”), from Old English efes. Compare Reeves. Also sometimes a variant of Eve.
Phrases with eaves
Words that rhyme with eaves
Questions about eaves
- What does eaves mean?
- Eaves means the underside of a roof that extends beyond the external walls of a building.
- What is eaves in Hindi?
- Eaves in Hindi is छज्जा (chajjā). See Eaves meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use eaves in a sentence?
- By my window bowered round with leaves, / And down my cheeks the quick tears ran / Like twinkling rain-drops from the eaves, / When warm spring showers are passing o'er: […]
- What part of speech is eaves?
- Eaves can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce eaves?
- Eaves is pronounced /iːvz/ (UK).
Words near eaves in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: eaves (page history and authors); Eaves (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-eaves.wav.
Cite this entry: “eaves.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/eaves. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.