even
Meaning
-
- Flat and level.
- Without great variation.
- Equal in proportion, quantity, size, etc.
- Divisible by two.
- Convenient for rounding other numbers to; for example, ending in a zero.
- On equal monetary terms; neither owing nor being owed.
- (colloquial) On equal terms of a moral sort; quits.
- Parallel; on a level; reaching the same limit.
- (obsolete) Without an irregularity, flaw, or blemish; pure.
- (obsolete) Associate; fellow; of the same condition.
Synonyms
well-distributed
make even
make smooth
not excepting
army intelligence
put in order
same time
so far as to
so much so that
still more
as many as
be flat
e’en
for all that
in balance
make equal
not so
round figures
yet again
if just
only thing needed
quite right
level the ground
be smooth
be level
flat and smooth
particle of affirmation
without ups and downs
on one level
skimcoat
flat ground
of them all
even more
even now
quietly-flowing
a match
inclusive of
Frequency
Hyphenated as
e‧ven
Pronounced as (IPA)
/ˈiːvən/
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 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. 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”).
Cognate with Dutch
even
Cognate with German
eben
Cognate with Western Frisian
jûn
Cognate with Dutch
avond
Cognate with German
Abend
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