APTAN

adv. from behind behind, opp. to framan; þá greip hann a. undir hendr honum, from behind; fyrir a., as prep. with acc., behind; ek hjó varginn í sundr fyrir a. bóguna, just behind the shoulders.

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and aftan, s, m., dat. aptni, pl. aptnar, sometimes spelt apni and apnar, [Hel. aband; Germ. abend; Engl. even, evening; in Ulf. we only find andanahti = Gr. οψέ, οψία; Swed. afton, Dan. aften,—as it is often spelt], evening; not very freq. in prose, where kveld is the common word. It prop. meant the time from 3 till 9 o’clock, like the Old English ‘even;’ miðraptan (middle-eve) is 6 o’clock; at 9 o’clock the night sets in, v. náttmál: a distinction is made between aptan and kveld, einn aptan at kveldi, an afternoon when the kveld (twilight) sets in, Edda 35: but gener. = kveld, um aptaninn síð er myrkt var orðit, Fms. iv. 308, viii. 228, xi. 113; at aptni, 623. 55, Fms. viii. 201, Grág. i. 146; of aptna (apna), Grág. ii. 224; á öptnum, Bjarn. 23; miðraptan, Hrafn. 9, Nj. 153; aptans bíðr óframs sök, a laggard’s suit bides till even (a proverb).