even

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Definitions (82)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (28)

  1. adjective Having a horizontal surface; flat: an even floor.
  2. adjective Having no irregularities, roughness, or indentations; smooth. See Synonyms at level.
  3. adjective Being in the same plane or line; parallel: The picture is even with the window.
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Examples (39)

  • He was a low fellow, and off his lips even the Japanese words for good evening sounded filthy A dump, Doc thought. —  140 - Jiu San
  • "[When receiving email from Vietnamese], I often tried my best to answer in Vietnamese even when the question was written in English," she says.
  • Needless to say it declines to broadcast in Hebrew, even though it does broadcast in the languages of other small nations: Slovene and Slovak, —  WBUR and NPR - On Point with Tom Ashbrook
  • Under the new law, districts must teach all subjects in English even as students learn the language. —  Boston.com Most Popular
  • In the meantime, I'm getting a little giggle over having received my first phishing email in French, even while I have already deleted it from my in-box. —  The Bold Soul
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

morning ·  night ·  only ·  then ·  mere ·  summer

Used in the same contextWord Family

even:   evening ·  evened ·  evens
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (6)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English, from Old English efen.
  2. Middle English, from Old English ǣfen.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (4)

  1. from Middle English even, evin, efen, sometimes, especially in inflection, emn (in comp. efen-, em-), from Anglo-Saxon efen, often, especially in inflection, contr. efn, emn = Old Saxon ebhan = OFries. even, ivin = Dutch even = Old High German eban, Middle High German G. eben = Icelandic jafn, jamn = Swedish jämn = Danish jævn = Gothic (Moesogothic) ibns, even; prob. connected with Gothic (Moesogothic) ibuks, adjective, back, backward, and perhaps with ebb, q. v.
  2. Also contr. (dial. and poetical) een, ene (usually written e'en); from Middle English even, evene, efne, from Anglo-Saxon efne, even, exactly, just, likewise (= Old Saxon efno = OFries. efne, evna, ivin = Dutch even = Old High German ebano, Middle High German ebene, eben, German eben, adverb, = Swedish äfven, even, likewise, also, too), from efen, adjective, even: see even, a.
  3. from Middle English evenen, efnen, emnien, make even, level, make equal, compare, from Anglo-Saxon efnian, level, i. e., lay prostrate (once, doubtful), ge-efnian, compare (cf. emnettan, make even, regulate, ge-emnettan, make even, level, make equal, compare), from efen, efn, emn, adjective, even: see even, a.
  4. Also contr. (dial. and poetical) een, ene (usually written e'en), and abbreviation eve (see eve); from Middle English even, efen, æven, æfen, also abbreviation eve, from Anglo-Saxon ǣfen (the deriv. form ǣfnung is rare: see evening) = Old Saxon ābhand = OFries. avend, ioven, iuven, etc., = Dutch avond = Old High German ābant, Middle High German abent, German abend, even, evening. The Scandinavian forms are different: Icelandic aptan, aftan = Swedish afton = Danish often, where the vowel has been shortened and the t inserted, perhaps in simulation of Icelandic aptr, aftr, etc., back, back again, behind (= English aft, after, q. v.), as if the evening were considered as the latter part of the day. The Gothic (Moesogothic) form is not recorded (the Gothic (Moesogothic) word for ‘evening’ is andanahti, literally the time toward night). There is nothing to bring the word into connection with off, Gothic (Moesogothic) of, Anglo-Saxon of, etc.
 

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/ˈivn/
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