Wiktionary

even

See also: Even, éven, and even-

English

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Alternative forms

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  • eben (etymology 1: adverb, adjective)
  • e'en (etymology 1: adverb, etymology 2: noun; contraction, poetic, archaic)

Pronunciation

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  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈiːvən/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈivən/, [ˈivn̩]
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Hyphenation: e‧ven
  • Rhymes: -iːvən

Etymology 1

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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 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

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even (comparative more even, superlative most even)

  1. Flat and level.
    Clear out those rocks. The surface must be even.
  2. Without great variation.
    Despite her fear, she spoke in an even voice.
  3. Equal in proportion, quantity, size, etc.
    The distribution of food must be even.
    Call it even.
  4. (not comparable, of an integer) Divisible by two.
    Four, fourteen and forty are even numbers.
  5. (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.
  6. On equal monetary terms; neither owing nor being owed.
  7. (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.
  8. Parallel; on a level; reaching the same limit.
  9. (obsolete) Without an irregularity, flaw, or blemish; pure.
  10. (obsolete) Associate; fellow; of the same condition.
    • c. 1382–1395, John Wycliffe, Bible - Matthew 18.29
      His even servant.
Usage notes
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  • 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
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Antonyms
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  • (antonym(s) of “flat and level”): uneven
  • (antonym(s) of “divisible by two”): odd
Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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even (third-person singular simple present evens, present participle evening, simple past and past participle evened)

  1. (transitive) To make flat and level.
    We need to even this playing field; the west goal is too low.
  2. (transitive, obsolete) To equal or equate; to make the same.
  3. (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.
  4. (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.
  5. (transitive, obsolete) To set right; to complete.
  6. (transitive, obsolete) To act up to; to keep pace with.
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Adverb

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even (not comparable)

  1. (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.
  2. 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.
  3. Emphasizing a comparative.
    I was strong before, but now I am even stronger.
  4. Signalling a correction of one's previous utterance; rather, that is.
    My favorite actor is Jack Nicklaus. Jack Nicholson, even.
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Noun

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even (plural evens)

  1. (mathematics, diminutive) An even number.
    So let's see. There are two evens here and three odds.
Translations
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References

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  1. ^ Schaffner, Stefan (2000). “Altindisch amnás, urgermanisch *eƀna-, kelt. *eμno-.” 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

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From 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

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even (plural evens)

  2. (archaic or poetic) Evening.
    We'll meet at even, when the sun is set.
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Anagrams

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Chinese

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Etymology

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From English even or even if or even though.

Pronunciation

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  This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!
Particularly: “Mandarin?”

Conjunction

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even

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, Taiwanese Mandarin) even though; even if

Synonyms

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Dutch

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Alternative forms

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  • 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

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From Middle Dutch even, effen, from Old Dutch *evan, from Proto-West Germanic *ebn, from Proto-Germanic *ebnaz.

Pronunciation

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Adverb

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even

  1. shortly, briefly
    Ik zal even voor u kijken.
    I shall have a look for you shortly.
  2. 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.
  3. 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)?
  4. 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.
  5. (Netherlands) quite, rather
    Die is even kwaad!
    He's rather angry!

Synonyms

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Descendants

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  • Javindo: efen
  • Negerhollands: even, eeven
  • → Caribbean Javanese: éfe (via Sranan Tongo)
  • → Kwinti: even

Adjective

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even (not comparable)

  1. even, opposite of odd
    Antonym: oneven

Declension

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Declension 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

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Anagrams

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Middle Dutch

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Etymology

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From Old Dutch *evan, from Proto-West Germanic *ebn, from Proto-Germanic *ebnaz.

Adjective

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ēven

  1. even, equal

Declension

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This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

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Adverb

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ēven

  1. just as, equally

Descendants

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Further reading

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Middle English

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Etymology 1

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From Old English efn, from Proto-West Germanic *ebn, from Proto-Germanic *ebnaz.

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Adverb

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even

  1. smoothly, evenly
  2. impartially, justly
Descendants
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References
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Etymology 2

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From Old English ǣfen, from Proto-West Germanic *ābanþ, from Proto-Germanic *ēbanþs.

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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even (plural evenes)

  1. eve
Descendants
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References
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Etymology 3

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Noun

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even

  1. Alternative form of hevene

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Noun

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even m

  1. definite singular of eve

Anagrams

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