English
even
Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈiːvən/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈivən/, /ˈivn̩/
Adjective

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 round#Verb|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, Wasted, chapter 8, 1999 HarperPerennial paperback edition, ISBN 0060930934, 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.
    • Bible, Luke xix. 44
      And shall lay thee even with the ground.
  9. (obsolete) Without an irregularity, flaw, or blemish; pure.
    • 1613, William Shakespeare; [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act III, scene ii]:
      I know my life so even.
  10. (obsolete) Associate; fellow; of the same condition.
    • (Matt.)
      His even servant.
Synonyms Antonyms
  • (flat and level) uneven
  • (divisible by two) odd
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Verb

even (evens, present participle evening; 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.
    • His temple Xerxes evened with the soil.
    • It will even all inequalities.
  2. (transitive, obsolete) To equal.
    • to even him in valour
  3. (intransitive, obsolete) To be equal.
    Thrice nine evens twenty seven.
  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.
  5. (transitive, obsolete) To set right; to complete.
  6. (transitive, obsolete) To act up to; to keep pace with.
Synonyms Translations Adverb

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.
    • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 639762314 ↗, page 0147 ↗:
      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.
  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 Translations Translations Translations Noun

even (plural evens)

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

even (plural evens)

  1. (archaic or poetic) Evening.
    • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Matthew ch. 8:
      When the even was come they brought unto him many that were possessed with devylles [...].
    • 1609, William Shakespeare, Sonnet 28:
      When sparkling stars twire not, thou gild'st the even.
Synonyms Related terms Translations
Even
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /əˈvɛn/
Proper noun
  1. A Tungusic language spoken by the Evens in Siberia.
Translations
  • French: évène
  • Russian: эве́нский
Noun

even (plural evens)

  1. An ethnic Even: a member of an indigenous people living in the Siberia and the Russian Far East.
Translations
  • Russian: эве́н


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