even

Meanings

1. 1
   adv

   Used to stress something surprising or unexpected.

   Even a child knows that.

2. 2
   adj

   Flat, level, and smooth.

   Clear away those rocks so the ground is even.

3. 3
   adj

   Steady and without sudden changes.

   She spoke in a calm, even voice.

4. 4
   adj

   Of a number, able to be divided exactly by two.

   Two, four, and six are even numbers.

5. 5
   verb

   To make something level or equal.

   He raked the soil to even out the surface.

Multiword verbs with even

• even out Phrasal verb A2

  to make a surface or amount more level, regular, or uniform

• even up Phrasal verb A2

  to bring uneven edges or amounts into alignment or equality

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Even in the sense “flat and smooth” is an Old English word. The even in evening comes from a different Old English word related to German Abend, “afternoon.”

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 (“eve…

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary