Meaning

noun the sixth of the seven canonical hours of the divine office; early evening; now often made a public service on Sundays

noun a planet (usually Venus) seen at sunset in the western sky

noun a late afternoon or evening worship service

originFrom Middle English vespers, from Old French vespres (French vêpres), from Ecclesiastical Latin vesperae (“vespers”), substantivisation of relational Late Latin vesperus (“evening”), from vesper (“evening”) + -us. Euphemistic use first as Vèpres éphésiennes (“Ephesian Vespers”), coined in 1890 by historian Théodore Reinach by analogy with the Sicilian Vespers.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0