Etymograph

English

even

Even comes from Old English efn ‘flat; level, even’, from Proto-Germanic *ebnaz ‘even, level’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁émnos ‘equal, straight; flat, level’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁émnos‘equal, straight; flat, level’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ebnaz‘even, level’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*ebn‘even, level’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150efn‘flat; level, even, equal’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500even
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1382–1395same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁émnos‘equal, straight; flat, level’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ebnaz‘even, level’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*ebn‘even, level’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150efn‘flat; level, even, equal’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500even
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1382–1395same form

Earliest quotation: c. 1382–1395, John Wycliffe: “His even servant.”

The story

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”).

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *h₁émnos

Today it means

adj Flat and level.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁émnos / even

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