even
English
editAlternative forms
edit- eben (etymology 1: adverb, adjective)
- e'en (etymology 1: adverb, etymology 2: noun; contraction, poetic, archaic)
Pronunciation
edit- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈiːvən/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈivən/, /ˈivn̩/
Audio (US): (file) - Hyphenation: e‧ven
- Rhymes: -iːvən
Etymology 1
editFrom 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 West Frisian even (“even”), Low German even (“even”), Dutch even (“even, equal, same”), effen, German eben (“even, flat, level”), Danish jævn (“even, flat, smooth”), Swedish jämn (“even, level, smooth”), Icelandic jafn, jamn (“even, equal”), 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.[1]
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”).
Adjective
editeven (comparative more even, superlative most even)
- Flat and level.
- Clear out those rocks. The surface must be even.
- Without great variation.
- Despite her fear, she spoke in an even voice.
- Equal in proportion, quantity, size, etc.
- The distribution of food must be even.
- Call it even.
- (not comparable, of an integer) Divisible by two.
- Four, fourteen and forty are even numbers.
- (of a number) Convenient for rounding other numbers to; for example, ending in a zero.
- 1989, Jerry Sterner, Other People's Money, act I:
- 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.
- 1998, Marya Hornbacher, chapter 8, in Wasted[1], paperback edition, HarperPerennial, published 1999, →ISBN, page 253:
- 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.
- On equal monetary terms; neither owing nor being owed.
- (colloquial) On equal terms of a moral sort; quits.
- You biffed me back at the barn, and I biffed you here—so now we're even.
- Parallel; on a level; reaching the same limit.
- '1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke xix:44:
- And shall lay thee even with the ground.
- '
- (obsolete) Without an irregularity, flaw, or blemish; pure.
- 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]:
- I know my life so even.
- (obsolete) Associate; fellow; of the same condition.
- c. 1382–1395, John Wycliffe, Bible - Matthew 18.29
- His even servant.
- c. 1382–1395, John Wycliffe, Bible - Matthew 18.29
Usage notes
edit- Because of confusion with the "divisible by two" sense, use of even to mean "convenient for rounding" is rare; the synonym round is more common for this sense.
Synonyms
edit- (flat and level): flat, level, uniform; see also Thesaurus:smooth
- (without great variation): regular, monotone (voice); see also Thesaurus:steady
- (equal): level, on par; see also Thesaurus:equal
- (convenient for rounding): round
- (on equal monetary terms): quits (colloquial, UK)
- (on equal moral terms): quits, square
Antonyms
editDerived terms
edit- an even chance
- break even
- break-even point
- call it even
- doubly even
- draw even
- even-down
- even-even
- even function
- even hand at the tiller
- even hand on the tiller
- evenhood
- evenhood
- even-interval
- even keel
- even-keeled
- evenly
- even-minded
- even money
- 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
- odd-even
- of even date
- of even date
- singly even
- uneven
Translations
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Verb
editeven (third-person singular simple present evens, present participle evening, simple past and past participle evened)
- (transitive) To make flat and level.
- We need to even this playing field; the west goal is too low.
- 1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], The Historie of the World […], London: […] William Stansby for Walter Burre, […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=1 to 5):
- This temple Xerxes evened with the soil.
- 1669, John Evelyn, “Kalendarium Hortense: Or The Gard’ners Almanac; […] [October.].”, in Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesties Dominions. […], 3rd edition, London: […] Jo[hn] Martyn, and Ja[mes] Allestry, printers to the Royal Society, →OCLC, page 27:
- [...] It will now be good to Beat, Roll, and Mow Carpet-walks, and Cammomile; for now the ground is ſupple, and it will even all inequalities: [...]
- (transitive, obsolete) To equal or equate; to make the same.
- 1639, Thomas Fuller, “Discords betwixt the French and English; the Death & Disposition of Meladine King of Egypt”, in The Historie of the Holy Warre, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck, one of the printers to the Universitie of Cambridge [and sold by John Williams, London], →OCLC, book IV, page 192:
- The Engliſh Earl [William Longespée the Younger], though he ſtood on the lower ground in point of birth, yet conceived himſelf to even him [Robert I, Count of Artois] in valour and martiall knowledge.
- 1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: […], London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 1886, →OCLC:
- “But aside from that,” I continued, “what have I done that you should even me to dogs by such a supposition? I never yet failed a friend, and it’s not likely I’ll begin with you. There are things between us that I can never forget, even if you can.”
- (intransitive, obsolete) To be equal.
- Thrice nine evens twenty seven.
- 1609, Richard Carew, The Survey of Cornwall. […], new edition, London: […] B. Law, […]; Penzance, Cornwall: J. Hewett, published 1769, →OCLC:
- A redoubled numbering never eveneth with the first.
- (transitive, obsolete) To place in an equal state, as to obligation, or in a state in which nothing is due on either side; to balance, as accounts; to make quits.
- We need to even the score.
- c. 1604–05, William Shakespeare, All's Well that Ends Well, act 1, scene 3:
- Madam, the care I have had to even your
content I wish might be found in the calendar of my
past endeavours, for then we wound our modesty, and
make foul the clearness of our deservings, when of
ourselves we publish them.
- (transitive, obsolete) To set right; to complete.
- (transitive, obsolete) To act up to; to keep pace with.
- c. 1611, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, act 3, scene 4:
- Prithee away,
There's more to be considered: but we'll even
All that good time will give us.
Synonyms
editDerived terms
editTranslations
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Adverb
editeven (not comparable)
- (archaic) Exactly, just, fully.
- I fulfilled my instructions even as I had promised.
- You are leaving tonight? — Even so.
- This is my commandment, that ye love one another, even as I have loved you.
- 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 36, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 177:
- But on the occasion in question, those dents looked deeper, even as his nervous step that morning left a deeper mark.
- In reality; implying an extreme example in the case mentioned, as compared to the implied reality.
- Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn sometimes.
- Did you even make it through the front door?
- That was before I was even born.
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 2:
- He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him. I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me.
- 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
- Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, […]. Even such a boat as the Mount Vernon offered a total deck space so cramped as to leave secrecy or privacy well out of the question, even had the motley and democratic assemblage of passengers been disposed to accord either.
- 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
- He read the letter aloud. Sophia listened with the studied air of one for whom, even in these days, a title possessed some surreptitious allurement.
- 2013 June 29, “Unspontaneous combustion”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 29:
- Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia. The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of foul white smoke that, carried by the wind, can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles.
- Emphasizing a comparative.
- I was strong before, but now I am even stronger.
- Signalling a correction of one's previous utterance; rather, that is.
- My favorite actor is Jack Nicklaus. Jack Nicholson, even.
Synonyms
edit- (exactly, just, fully): definitely, precisely; see also Thesaurus:exactly
- (implying extreme example): so much as
- (correction to previous utterance): See Thesaurus:in other words
Derived terms
edit- can't even
- don't even think about it
- even a blind pig can find an acorn
- even a blind pig can find an acorn once in a while
- even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while
- even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then
- even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every once in a while
- even as
- even as we speak
- even a worm will turn
- even Homer nods
- even if
- even Jove nods
- even more
- even so
- even still
- even though
- it is not even funny
- it isn't even funny
- it's not even funny
- not even (adverb)
- not even once
- not even one
- not even wrong
- what is this I don't even
Translations
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Noun
editeven (plural evens)
- (mathematics, diminutive) An even number.
- So let's see. There are two evens here and three odds.
Translations
editReferences
edit- ^ Schaffner, Stefan (2000). “Altindisch amnás, urgermanisch *eƀna-, kelt. *e
μ no-.” In: Indoarisch, Iranisch und die Indogermanistik. Akten des Kolloquiums der Indogermanischen Gesellschaft vom 2. bis 5. Oktober 1997 in Erlangen, Forssman, Bernhard & Plath, Robert (eds.), Wiesbaden, pp. 491–505. In German.
Etymology 2
editFrom Middle English even, from Old English ǣfen, from Proto-West Germanic *ābanþ, from Proto-Germanic *ēbanþs (“evening”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Äivend, Äiwend, Eeuwend (“evening”), West Frisian jûn (“evening”), Dutch avond (“evening”), Low German Avend (“evening”), German Abend (“evening”), Danish aften (“evening”). See also the related terms eve and evening.
Noun
editeven (plural evens)
- (archaic or poetic) Evening.
- 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Matthew viij:
- When the even was come they brought unto him many that were possessed with devylles [...].
- 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 28”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:
- When sparkling stars twire not, thou gild'st the even.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Leviticus 15:16:
- And if any mans seede of copulation goe out from him, then hee shall wash all his flesh in water, and bee vncleane vntill the Euen.
Synonyms
edit- evening, eventide; see also Thesaurus:evening
Derived terms
editRelated terms
editTranslations
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Anagrams
editChinese
editEtymology
editFrom English even or even if or even though.
Pronunciation
edit- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: i1 fan4 / ji1 fan4
- Yale: ī fàhn / yī fàhn
- Cantonese Pinyin: i1 fan4 / ji1 fan4
- Guangdong Romanization: i1 fen4 / yi1 fen4
- Sinological IPA (key): /iː⁵⁵ fɐn²¹/, /jiː⁵⁵ fɐn²¹/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Conjunction
editeven
Synonyms
edit不 怕 (bùpà)任 憑/任 凭 (rènpíng)作 哩 (Zhangzhou Hokkien)作 算 (zo6 sonn4) (Xiang)- 儘管/
尽 管 即 令 (jílìng)即 使 (jíshǐ)即 便 (jíbiàn)- 哪怕 (nǎpà) (informal)
- 就 (jiù)
- 就使 (Hokkien)
- 就算 (jiùsuàn) (colloquial)
- 就若 (Hokkien)
- 就若
是 (Hokkien) - 怕不 (pàbù) (literary or dialectal)
縱 /纵 (formal)縱 使 /纵使 (zòngshǐ)縱 然 /纵然 (zòngrán)設 令 /设令 (shèlìng)饒 /饶 (ráo) (colloquial)
Dutch
editAlternative forms
edit- effen (for the temporal senses of the adverb; colloquial; standard)
- effe (for the temporal senses of the adverb; colloquial; non-standard)
- ff (for the temporal senses of the adverb; slang, common chat abbreviation)
Etymology
editFrom Middle Dutch even, effen, from Old Dutch *evan, from Proto-West Germanic *ebn, from Proto-Germanic *ebnaz.
Pronunciation
editAdverb
editeven
- shortly, briefly
- Ik zal even voor u kijken.
- I shall have a look for you shortly.
- for a short period, for a while
- In de tweede helft van de 19e eeuw bloeide Vollenhove weer even op.nl:Vollenhove#Geschiedenis
- In the second half of the 19th century, Vollenhove flourished again for a while.
- for a moment; modal particle indicating that the speaker expects that something will require little time or effort.
- Zou je even de deur voor me dicht willen doen?
- Could you please close the door for me (for a moment)?
- just as, to the same degree (used with an adjective)
- In het midden van de vloer stond een tafel van wel vier meter hoog en een even grote stoel er bij.
- In the middle of the floor there stood a four-metre tall table and a chair just as large beside it.
- (Netherlands) quite, rather
- Die is even kwaad!
- He's rather angry!
Synonyms
editDescendants
edit- Javindo: efen
- Negerhollands: even, eeven
- → Caribbean Javanese: éfe (via Sranan Tongo)
- → Kwinti: even
Adjective
editeven (not comparable)
Declension
editDeclension of even | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
uninflected | even | |||
inflected | even | |||
comparative | — | |||
positive | ||||
predicative/adverbial | even | |||
indefinite | m./f. sing. | even | ||
n. sing. | even | |||
plural | even | |||
definite | even | |||
partitive | evens |
Derived terms
editAnagrams
editMiddle Dutch
editEtymology
editFrom Old Dutch *evan, from Proto-West Germanic *ebn, from Proto-Germanic *ebnaz.
Adjective
editēven
Declension
editThis adjective needs an inflection-table template.
Descendants
editAdverb
editēven
Descendants
editFurther reading
edit- “even (I)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
- “even (II)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
- Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “even (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I
- Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “evene (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page evene
Middle English
editEtymology 1
editFrom Old English efn, from Proto-West Germanic *ebn, from Proto-Germanic *ebnaz.
Alternative forms
editPronunciation
editAdverb
editeven
Descendants
editReferences
edit- “ēven, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 2
editFrom Old English ǣfen, from Proto-West Germanic *ābanþ, from Proto-Germanic *ēbanþs.
Alternative forms
editPronunciation
editNoun
editeven (plural evenes)
Descendants
editReferences
edit- “ēve(n, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 3
editNoun
editeven
- Alternative form of hevene
Norwegian Nynorsk
editNoun
editeven m
Anagrams
edit- English 2-syllable words
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- Rhymes:English/iːvən
- Rhymes:English/iːvən/2 syllables
- English terms inherited from Middle English
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- English terms derived from Old English
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- English countable nouns
- en:Mathematics
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- English adjectives ending in -en
- English degree adverbs
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- en:Times of day
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- Rhymes:Dutch/eːvən
- Rhymes:Dutch/eːvən/2 syllables
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- Netherlands Dutch
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- Middle Dutch terms inherited from Old Dutch
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- Middle Dutch terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
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