even
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈiːvn̩/
ipa: /ˈivn̩/
ipa: [ˈivn̩]
rhymes: -iːvən
Forms: form: more even
form: most even
form: eben
form: e'en
Etymology: From Middle English even, from Old English efn (“flat; level, even, equal”), from Proto-West Germanic *ebn, from Proto-Germanic *ebnaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)em-no- (“equal, straight; flat, level, even”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian íeuwen (“even, flat”), West Frisian even (“even”), Alemannic German ëben (“even”), Cimbrian ébane (“even”), Dutch even (“even, equal, same”), effen (“leveled”), German eben (“even, flat, level”), Danish jævn (“even, flat, smooth”), Icelandic jafn (“even”), Norwegian Bokmål jevn (“even, smooth”), Norwegian Nynorsk jamn (“even, smooth”), Swedish jämn (“even, level, smooth”), Gothic 𐌹𐌱𐌽𐍃 (ibns, “even”), Old Cornish eun (“equal, right”) (attested in Vocabularium Cornicum eun-hinsic (“iustus, i. e., just”)), Old Breton eun (“equal, right”) (attested in Eutychius Glossary eunt (“aequus, i. e., equal”)), Middle Breton effn, Breton eeun, Sanskrit अम्नस् (amnás, “(adverb) just, just now; at once”).
The verb descends from Middle English evenen, from Old English efnan; the adverb from Middle English evene, from Old English efne.
The traditional proposal connecting the Germanic adjective with the root Proto-Indo-European *h₂eym- (Latin imāgō (“picture, image, likeness, copy”), Latin aemulus (“competitor, rival”), Sanskrit यम (yamá, “pair, twin”)) is problematic from a phonological point of view.
For the meaning development compare with Latin aequus (“equal, level, even, flat, horizontal”), Russian ро́вный (róvnyj, “even, level, flat, smooth”), ра́вный (rávnyj, “equal”), по́ровну (pórovnu, “in equal parts”).
Senses: examples: text: Clear out those rocks. The surface must be even.
glosses: Flat and level.
examples: text: Despite her fear, she spoke in an even voice.
glosses: Without great variation.
examples: text: The distribution of food must be even.
text: Call it even.
glosses: Equal in proportion, quantity, size, etc.
examples: text: Four, fourteen and forty are even numbers.
glosses: Divisible by two.
raw_tags: of an integer
examples: text: Coles. How many shares have you bought, Mr. Garfinkle?
Garfinkle. One hundred and ninety-six thousand.[…]
Jorgenson. […] How'd you figure out to buy such an odd amount? Why not two hundred thousand — nice even number. Thought you liked nice even numbers.
ref: 1989, Jerry Sterner, Other People's Money, act I:
text: He put me on the scale in my underwear and socks: 82 pounds.[…] I left, humming all day long, remembering that once upon a time my ideal weight had been 84, and now I'd even beaten that. I decided 80 was a better number, a nice even number to be.
ref: 1998, Marya Hornbacher, chapter 8, in Wasted, paperback edition, HarperPerennial, published 1999, →ISBN, page 253:
glosses: Convenient for rounding other numbers to; for example, ending in a zero.
raw_tags: of a number
glosses: On equal monetary terms; neither owing nor being owed.
examples: text: You biffed me back at the barn, and I biffed you here—so now we're even.
glosses: On equal terms of a moral sort; quits.
examples: text: And shall lay thee even with the ground.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke xix:44:
glosses: Parallel; on a level; reaching the same limit.
examples: text: I know my life so even.
ref: 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
glosses: Without an irregularity, flaw, or blemish; pure.
examples: text: His even servant.
ref: c. 1382–1395, John Wycliffe, Bible - Matthew 18.29
glosses: Associate; fellow; of the same condition.
Synonyms: sense: flat and level
word: flat
word: level
word: uniform
word: smooth
sense: without great variation
word: regular
english: voice
translation: voice
word: monotone
word: steady
word: level
word: on par
word: equal
sense: convenient for rounding
word: round
sense: on equal monetary terms
word: quits
sense: on equal moral terms
word: quits
sense: on equal moral terms
word: square
Derived terms: an even chance
break even
break-even point
call it even
doubly even
draw even
evendown
even-down
even-even
even function
even hand at the tiller
evenhanded
even hand on the tiller
evenhood
even-interval
evenish
even keel
even-keeled
evenlike
evenly
even-minded
even money
evenness
even number
even-numbered
even-odd
even odds
even permutation
even-pinnate
even-steven
even-stevens
even-tempered
even-toed
even-weave
even working
get even
getting even
noneven
odd-even
of even date
singly even
threeven
uneven