even

Less common meanings

4. 4
   flatadjective

   Flat and level, or at the same height or line as something else.

   The road was smooth and even after the repairs.

   Spread the plaster in an even layer.

   UsageCompares as more even or evener: a more even layer.

   Similarflat, level, smooth, uniform

   Oppositeuneven, bumpy, rough

   Note

   The oldest picture in the word: Old English efn already meant both "flat, level" and "equal", and the root behind it also meant "straight". A floor, a lawn or a coat of paint is even when nothing rises above the rest. The same image of nothing standing higher runs through the "equal shares" meaning. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Old English efn, the ancestor of even, meant flat, level, and equal. en.wiktionary.org
   • The reconstructed ancestor also meant straight. en.wiktionary.org
5. 5
   divisible by twoadjective

   Of an integer, divisible by two with no remainder.

   Houses on the even side of the street have the larger gardens.

   Zero counts as an even number.

   UsagePaired with odd, as in odd and even numbers or the even side of the street.

   Oppositeodd

6. 6
   verbtransitive or intransitive

   To make things equal or balanced, or to become so, said of a score, a contest, or an uneven distribution; often used with out or up.

   Her second goal evened the score just before halftime, and the crowd finally relaxed.

   Once the new hires are trained, the workload should even out across the team.

   UsageEven the score with no particle; things even out by themselves; someone evens up the teams.

   Similarlevel, equalize, balance

7. 7
   adjective

   No longer owing anything to each other, whether money or a wrong paid back; quits.

   Once the loan is repaid they will be even.

   After I paid back the fifty dollars I borrowed, my sister and I were even.

   UsageCommon in we're even, call it even and be even with someone.

   Similarquits, square

8. 8
   steadyadjective

   Without great variation; steady and regular.

   His breathing was slow and even.

   She has an even temper and rarely shouts.

   UsageCommon in an even temper, an even pace and even breathing.

   Similarsteady, regular, calm, stable, equable

   Oppositeirregular, uneven, erratic

9. 9
   dusknounarchaic

   The close of the day, between afternoon and night.

   They rested at even beneath the oak.

   When ſparkling ſtars twire not thou guil'ſt th' eauen.

   1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 28”

   Note

   A separate word that only looks like the adjective. It comes from Old English ǣfen, kin to German Abend and Dutch avond, while the "level" word comes from efn. It once served plain prose, as in Tyndale's 1526 "when the even was come", and in the King James Bible's until the even. Poetry kept it longer, typically in at even. Used today, it sounds deliberately old. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 7 facts

   • The evening noun and the adjective have separate Old English origins: ǣfen and efn respectively. en.wiktionary.org
   • The evening noun is cognate with German Abend and Dutch avond. en.wiktionary.org
   • The adjective meaning level derives from Old English efn. en.wiktionary.org
   • Tyndale's New Testament was first published in 1526. library.chethams.com
   • Tyndale used the quoted wording in biblical prose; the quotation modernizes the original spelling. gutenberg.org
   • The King James Bible contains the phrase until the even. en.wikisource.org
   • The word survived in later poetry in the phrase at even. en.wikisource.org
10. 10
    adverbcolloquial

    Used right after a word or phrase that corrects or strengthens what was just said; rather.

    It's a five-hour drive, six even, with the traffic.

    She's a good cook, a great one even.

    Similaractually

11. 11
    round numberadjective

    Of a number or amount, round and exact, with nothing over or under, typically ending in a zero, as in an even twenty dollars.

    The bill came to an even twenty dollars.

    Let's call it an even million.

    Similarround

    Note

    Here even means tidy rather than divisible: 196,000 splits neatly by two, yet a buyer of that many shares can still be teased for an odd amount beside a nice even 200,000. When the figure is not round, the divisible-by-two meaning is usually the one in play. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • 196,000 is divisible by two: 196,000 ÷ 2 = 98,000. en.wikipedia.org
12. 12
    make flatverbtransitive

    To make flat and level; to smooth out.

    The workers used a heavy roller to even the gravel path before the guests arrived.

    The wind had evened the drifts into a smooth white sheet.

    UsageOften even out: even out the soil before planting.

    Similarlevel, smooth, flatten, plane

    Note

    Older writers used the verb with drastic results: Raleigh's "This temple Xerxes evened with the soil" means the temple was razed. John Evelyn's gardening almanac, Kalendarium Hortense, rolls turf so it will "even all inequalities". Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Walter Raleigh wrote the quoted sentence; 'evened with the soil' means leveled to the ground. en.wiktionary.org
    • John Evelyn's Kalendarium Hortense is a gardening almanac that recommends rolling garden walks to 'even all inequalities'. gutenberg.org
13. 13
    number (maths)nouncountablediminutive

    In informal mathematical use, an integer divisible by two with no remainder.

    Every even is the sum of two smaller evens or of two odds.

    Pick an even and double it.

    UsageMostly in the plural, set against odds: two evens and three odds.

    Oppositeodd

14. 14
    adverbarchaic

    Exactly, just, or fully.

    But on the occasion in question, those dents looked deeper, even as his nervous step that morning left a deeper mark.

    1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

    You are leaving tonight? — Even so.

    Note

    The older adverb meant "exactly", and it is the one heard in biblical English: "even as I have loved you" means just as I have loved you. As a reply, "Even so" meant "exactly so", a plain yes; today even so means nevertheless. Melville still writes "even as his nervous step" in 1851, meaning just as. Do not confuse it with the surprise-marking adverb, which points to an extreme case rather than an exact match. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • The older adverb had the meaning exactly. en.wiktionary.org
    • The quoted wording occurs in biblical English, with even as expressing just as; it appears in Jesus's speech in John 15:12 in the American Standard Version. en.wikisource.org
    • Even so historically expressed exact agreement and could serve as an affirmative reply. en.wiktionary.org
    • Melville wrote the quoted words in the narration of Moby-Dick, chapter 36; the context supports the interpretation just as. en.wikisource.org
    • The quotation's publication year is 1851, as shown by the first American edition's title page. en.wikisource.org
15. 15
    verbobsoletetransitive

    To balance accounts or obligations so that both sides are quits.

    Note

    The plain verb is obsolete, but one phrase keeps its sense alive: to even the score, settling what is owed so that neither side is ahead. Older uses were broader. In All's Well that Ends Well, a speaker mentions the care taken "to even your content", meaning to satisfy it fully and make it complete. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Even historically meant to balance obligations so that neither side owed anything. en.wiktionary.org
    • The quotation occurs in All's Well That Ends Well; the speaker is the Steward, addressing the Countess. gutenberg.org
    • The phrase means to fulfil the person's desires or satisfaction. gutenberg.org
16. 16
    verbobsoletetransitive

    To be equal to, to make equal, or to match something.

    The Engliſh Earl [William Longespée the Younger], though he ſtood on the lower ground in point of birth, yet conceived himſelf to even him [Robert I, Count of Artois] in valour and martiall knowledge.

    1639, Thomas Fuller, “Discords betwixt the French and English; the Death & Disposition of Meladine King of Egypt”

    Note

    Here the verb ranks one thing as equal to another. Thomas Fuller, writing in 1639, has an earl who believed himself able to even a count in valor. Robert Louis Stevenson revives it in 1886 with "that you should even me to dogs", using the construction even someone to something: to put them on a level with it. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Thomas Fuller's example belongs to The Historie of the Holy Warre, first published in 1639. celm.folger.edu
    • Fuller describes an English earl who considered himself equal to the count in valour. en.wiktionary.org
    • Stevenson's example is from Kidnapped, first published in 1886. english.berkeley.edu
    • The quotation is exact. David Balfour speaks it to Alan Breck, using even me to dogs to mean comparing him with dogs. en.wikisource.org
17. 17
    adjectiveobsolete

    Wholly free from fault or blemish; pure.

    I know my life so even.

    1613, William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher]

    Note

    A Jacobean sense that modern readers easily misread. In Henry VIII, the play by Shakespeare and Fletcher first printed in 1623, "I know my life so even" means blameless, without a flaw, not calm or level. The smooth surface has become a moral one. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The quoted sense occurs in Jacobean drama by Shakespeare and John Fletcher. folgerpedia.folger.edu
    • The quotation occurs in the play; its speaker is Queen Katherine in Henry VIII, Act 3, scene 1. folger.edu
    • Even here means free from fault or blemish. en.wiktionary.org
18. 18
    adjectiveobsolete

    Being a fellow or associate, of the same condition or rank.

    Note

    A Middle English use that worked almost like a prefix, standing directly before a noun of rank or role. Wycliffe's "his even servant" means his fellow servant, one of the same condition, not a servant who is level or fair. The sense is obsolete now. It matters mainly for reading early Bible translations, where fellow is the word to substitute. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • This use belongs to Middle English Bible translation. en.wikipedia.org
    • Even could stand directly before a noun of role, as in servant. en.wikisource.org
    • The Wycliffite Bible contains 'his even servant' in Matthew 18:29, with spelling modernized in the item. en.wikisource.org
    • Even in this construction means fellow or of the same condition. en.wiktionary.org
19. 19
    verbobsoletetransitive

    To set right or complete.

    Note

    A sense to recognize rather than to use. In older writing, to even something could mean to put it right or to bring it to completion. An evened wrong is one set right, not one flattened. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The obsolete verb even could mean to set right or complete; the illustrative phrase 'an evened wrong' uses the former sense. en.wiktionary.org