[Proper name.] St. Sylvester’s day, Dec. 31. Sylvester-eve, -night [G. Sylvesterabend], the evening or night of Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve.
1838. S. Jackson, trans. Strauss’ Remin. Early Life Lutheran Clergyman, I. 50. I have never been able to feel joyful on Sylvester-eve, when I have spent it wholly in company.
1852. Thackeray, Esmond, II. vii. And so the sylvester night passed away.
1866. Engel, Nat. Mus., viii. 276. In the villages of Northern Germany, it is not unusual for the cowherd,… at midnight of Sylvester, to … sing a sacred hymn.
