entry
evergreen
/ˈɛvərɡriːn/Persistently fresh, green, or useful throughout time
From O.English, ultimately Proto-Indo-European ever (At any time) + O.English, ultimately Proto-Indo-European green (Growing).
Word Ancestry
Picture an English speaker in the 1640s pointing toward a fir tree and making a wonderfully literal observation: it was “ever green.” The first half reaches back to Old English ǣfre, whose exact construction is disputed, though it may preserve the idea of being “always in life”; its deeper family tree includes the Proto-Indo-European root *aiw-, associated with life and eternity. Green has an even more visual ancestry: it began with a root meaning “to grow,” so the color was named for living vegetation rather than treated as an abstract paint-chip category. That same green later wandered into “unripe,” “inexperienced,” “gullible,” “green light,” and environmental politics—the color of a growing plant becoming a small vocabulary empire. By 1871, evergreen had shed its purely botanical leaves and could describe anything enduring or continually useful, which is why an evergreen news article can be published whenever needed: its usefulness refuses to go out of season.
The Story
Picture an English speaker in the 1640s pointing toward a fir tree and making a wonderfully literal observation: it was “ever green.” The first half reaches back to Old English ǣfre, whose exact construction is disputed, though it may preserve the idea of being “always in life”; its deeper family tree includes the Proto-Indo-European root *aiw-, associated with life and eternity. Green has an even more visual ancestry: it began with a root meaning “to grow,” so the color was named for living vegetation rather than treated as an abstract paint-chip category. That same green later wandered into “unripe,” “inexperienced,” “gullible,” “green light,” and environmental politics—the color of a growing plant becoming a small vocabulary empire. By 1871, evergreen had shed its purely botanical leaves and could describe anything enduring or continually useful, which is why an evergreen news article can be published whenever needed: its usefulness refuses to go out of season.
Modern Usage
Something enduringly fresh or useful; also an article presented as news but valued mainly for lasting analysis
Kin & Kindred
From 'ever'·At any time; always; eternally
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'green'·Growing, living, fresh; the color of living plants
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Etymonline
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia