Forms: 1 ebn, efen, æfen, efn, emn, in comb. em-, 2–3 efn(e, æfne, Orm. efenn, effen, emne, 3–4 evene, 4–6 evin(e, -yn, ewyn(e, (5 evan, heven, 6 evne), 6–7 ea-, eeven, 4– even. [Common Teutonic: OE. efen, efn, by assimilation emn = OFris. even, evin, OS. eban (Du. even, effen), OHG. eban, epan (Ger. eben), ON. iafn, iamn (Da. jevn, Sw. jemn), Goth. ibns:—OTeut. *eƀno-.
The word has not yet been satisfactorily connected with any other Teut. or Aryan word; hence it is uncertain whether the primary sense was ‘level’ or ‘equal, like.’]
1. Of a piece of ground, a country, etc.: Flat, plain, level, not hilly or sloping.
c. 893. K. Ælfred, Oros., I. ii. § 4. Seo burg was ʓetimbred an fildum lande & on swiþe emnum.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 2078. Set full sad on a soile euyn.
1605. Shaks., Lear, IV. vi. 3. Glo. Me thinkes the ground is eeuen. Edg. Horrible steepe.
1605. Verstegan, Dec. Intell., iv. (1628), 100. They are euen and plaine without any hilles or hilly grounds.
1692. Bentley, Boyle Lect., 78. It [sight] would be terminated … in the largest and evenest plain by the very Convexity of the Earth.
1705. Addison, Italy (1733), 175. The present Face of Rome is much more Even and Level than it was formerly.
1859. Tennyson, Geraint & Enid, 239. At last they … climb’d upon a fair and even ridge.
b. Of uniform height.
1523. Fitzherb., Husb., § 70. Beastes alone … wyll not eate a pasture euen, but leaue many tuftes and hygh grasse in dyuers places.
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., III. iv. 36. All must be euen, in our Gouernment.
1601. B. Jonson, Poetaster, IV. ix. Both waies, I am too high, and thou, too lowe, Our Mindes are euen, yet.
1612. Davies, Why Ireland, etc. (1613), 219 (J.). When he did set his foot in the middle of the Hide, all the other parts lay flat and euen.
c. In a level position; horizontal. Obs. exc. Naut. in phrase, (On) an even keel.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, III. 136. He laid hym ewyn him beforn.
c. 1391. Chaucer, Astrol., II. § 29. Lat thyn Astrelabie kowch adown evene upon a smothe grond.
1836. Marryat, Midsh. Easy, xxiv. 178. The frigate was on an even keel.
c. 1850. Rudim. Navig. (Weale), 117. A ship is said to swim on an even keel when she draws the same quantity of water abaft as forwards.
1853. Kane, Grinnell Exp., xxvi. (1856), 213. I wish it would give us an even keel.
2. Of surfaces or lines: Uniform, without inequality; smooth.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 2. Þe on [riwle] riwleð þe heorte, þe makeð hire efne & smeðe, wiðute knotte & dolke of woh inwit.
1340. Ayenb., 151. Efterward he deþ al be reule, þet makeþ þane wal emne.
a. 1350. Childh. Jesus, 1382. Þis treo mot beo … At eithur ende euene and quarre.
1535. Coverdale, 1 Chron. xiii. 15. The valleys were eauen both [Luther dass alle Grunde eben waren] towarde the East and towarde the West.
1552. Abp. Hamilton, Catech. (1884), 28. Ane biggare can nocht make ane evin up wal without direction of his lyne.
1577. B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., III. (1586), 141 b. Looke … that … the grounde bee made fayre and euen, some thing hanging.
1580. Baret, Alv., E 364. To make eeuen with the rule, exæquare ad regulam.
1664. Evelyn, Kal. Hort. (1729), 202. Cut close and even.
1693. Dryden, trans. Persius, vi. To see a beggar’s brat in riches flow, Adds not a wrinkle to my even brow. Ibid. (1697), Virg. Georg., IV. 213. He knew to rank his Elms in even Rows.
1704. Newton, Opticks, II. 45 (J.). The superficies of such plates are not even, but have many cavities and swellings.
1712. J. James, trans. Le Blond’s Gardening, 34. Parterres … should be flat, eaven, and disengaged.
c. 1720. Prior, Poems, Charity. Charity … Lays the rough paths of peevish nature even.
1781. Cowper, Anti-Thelyphthora, 47. Smooth and even as an iv’ry ball.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., II. 486. The water in the bay was as even as glass.
1858. Hawthorne, Fr. & It. Jrnls., I. 213. Hedges … as even as a brick-wall at the top and sides.
3. Uniform alike throughout (in color, texture, consistency, quality, etc.).
1821. Craig, Lect. Drawing, vii. 406. Nor can it … produce a light, even tint of any extent.
1846. Trotter, in Baxter’s Lib. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4), II. 347. These last [turnips] are … the evenest and best crop…. The whole field is an even piece, not having suffered from the fly.
1883. F. M. Crawford, Dr. Claudius, viii. The sky was of an even lead colour.
† 4. Of a path: Straight, direct. Of movements or speech: Direct, straightforward. Of a visible object: Directly in front. Obs.
c. 1200. Ormin, 9214. Þar shulenn beon … effne & smeþe weȝȝess.
c. 1325. Metr. Hom., 48. I bid you mac the gates euin To Crist.
c. 1470. Harding, Chron., LXII. v. Constantyne sawe a crosse … full euine.
1594. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., I. viii. (1611), 17. For as the straight way is most acceptable to him that trauaileth,… so in action, that which doth lye the euenest betweene vs and the end we desire.
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., IV. viii. 114. In plaine shock, and euen play of Battaile. Ibid. (1602), Ham., II. ii. 298. Be euen and direct with me, whether you were sent for or no.
5. Level with († to); neither higher nor lower. arch.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 11688. Þe tre it boued doune … Þe crope was euen wid þe rote.
1420. E. E. Wills (1882), 52. A flate ston off marbill, ewyn with the grounde.
1579. Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 135. When Demetrius wonne the Citie, and made it euen to the ground.
1611. Bible, Luke xix. 44. And shall lay thee euen with the ground.
1626. Purchas, Pilgr. (ed. 4), 434. The nether part of the Sunne seeming iust and euen with it.
1653. H. Cogan, trans. Pinto’s Trav., xxxvi. 142. On the out-side about eight and thirty foot high above the water, and on the in-side even with the ground.
1698. T. Froger, Voy., 33. Waiting till the Fish swim even with the Surface of the Water.
b. In the same plane or line (with). Also (of a course, etc.) parallel; (of the two ends of an object) in line with the center.
a. 1350. Childh. Jesus, 1425. Josep swiþe glad was þo Þat euene weren þe endes two.
1586. A. Day, Eng. Secretary (1625), A iiij. I haue applied a number of Figures, Schemes, and Tropes in the margent of euery Epistle, euen with the places where they are vsed.
1603. Shaks., Meas. for M., IV. ii. 83. His life is paralel’d Euen with the stroke and line of his great Iustice.
1663. Gerbier, Counsel, 22. The Chimney to be made even with the upright of the wall.
1712. F. T., Meth. Short-Hand, 11. Write the Consonant in an even line with the foregoing Consonant.
1726. Leoni, trans. Alberti’s Archit., I. 72 b. You may … make a … foundation for every particular Peer … lying directly even with the current of the water.
1748. Anson’s Voy., II. ii. 178. A ship to leeward, with her courses even with the horizon.
6. Accurately coincident or accordant; exactly adjusted; spec. in type-setting, To make even, make even lines, or end even: to space out the last few lines of copy, so as to make the last a full line.
c. 1400. Rom. Rose, 5821. We been at one, By even accord of everichone.
1577. B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., II. (1586), 73 b. Good Grafters, thinke it best to hold the Graffe euen with both hands.
1597. T. Morley, Introd. Mus., 89. The third is a driuing waie in two crotchets and a minime, but odded by a rest, so that it neuer commeth euen till the close.
1703. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., 277. Lay the streight edge even upon the line A E.
† 7. Of computed results, statements, etc.: Exact, precise. Also, ‘(The) exact’ (place, etc.)
c. 1300. Cursor M., 20834 (Edinb.). Qua wel can caste sal finde it euin.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. XXIII. 270. Hevene haueþ evene numbre, and helle is with-oute numbre.
a. 1470. Tiptoft, Caesar, xiii. (1530), 18. Fewe or none of them [ships] came to the even port.
1551. Recorde, Pathw. Knowl., II. xliv. It maketh iust .xxix, the euen halfe of fifty and eight.
1601. Shaks., All’s Well, V. iii. 326. To make the euen truth in pleasure flow.
8. Of actions, movements, processes, continuous states: Uniform, free from fluctuations. Of the mind, temper, etc.: Free from variations, ‘equal,’ equable, unruffled.
c. 897. K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past., xlii. 306. Ðæs wisan monnes mod bið suiðe emn.
a. 1240. Sawles Warde, in Cott. Hom., 265. Þole wið efne heorte þe dom of rihtwisnesse.
1297. R. Glouc. (1724), 193. Þer come in tuelf olde men myd euene pas þere.
1382. Wyclif, Baruch iv. 5. Thou peple of God, be of euener inwitt.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Clerk’s T., 811. With euene herte I rede yow tendure This strook of ffortune or of auenture.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 143. Euen in meuynge [printed menynge] or clothynge.
1561. T. Norton, Calvin’s Inst., I. To Rdr. That I may with euen sufferance continue in the course of his holy calling.
1613. Shaks., Hen. VIII., III. i. 37. I know my life so euen.
1710. Addison, Tatler, No. 192, ¶ 5. Persons or even Tempers and uniform Dispositions.
1766. Johnson, in Boswell, Feb. Pope’s [horses] go at a steady even trot.
1770. Langhorne, Plutarch (1879), I. 177/2. Pericles acquired … a firm and even tone of voice.
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., lxxxv. My blood an even tenour kept.
1870. Huxley, Lay Serm., xiv. 367. The even rhythm of the breathing of every one of us.
9. Equally balanced; in a state of equilibrium; ‘not inclining to either side’ (J.).
1579. Gosson, Sch. Abuse (Arb.), 39. Bearing her sword so euen, that neither the poore are trod vnder foote, nor the rich suffred to loke too hye.
1607. Shaks., Cor., IV. vii. 37. He has A Noble seruant to them; but he could not Carry his honors eeuen.
1655–60. Stanley, Hist. Philos. (1701), 188/1. Its proper place … by reason of its even weight is the Centre.
1667. Milton, P. L., I. 349. In even ballance down they light.
1703. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., 69. The Hand must be carried along the whole length … exactly even.
1742. Young, Nt. Th., VIII. 1180. An Eye impartial, and an even Scale.
c. 1819. Bentham, Wks. (1843), II. 446. The balance is now restored. The two scales hang even.
1863. W. Phillips, Speeches, vii. 155. He holds the scales of justice most exactly even.
1866. J. Martineau, Ess., I. 67. The balance cannot be expected to hang … even.
10. Of accounts, affairs, a reckoning: Having no balance or debt on either side; ‘square.’
1551. T. Wilson, Logike (1567), 2 b. Arithmetik by nomber can make Reckenynges to be euen.
1596. Harington, Metam. Ajax, Pref. (1814), p. xiv. For a man to make even his reckonings.
1605. Bp. Hall, Medit. & Vowes, II. § 4. 130–1. It hath beene an olde and true Prouerbe, Oft and euen reckoninges make long friends.
1712. Arbuthnot, John Bull (1755), 14. How is it possible for a man of business to keep his affairs even in the world at this rate?
a. 1716. South, 12 Serm. (1718), II. 427 (J.). Even Reckoning makes lasting Friends.
b. To be even: to be square or quits; to have settled accounts. † To make even: to square accounts. † To make even for: to compensate for.
1511. Plumpton Corr., p. cxviii. Memor. That Sir Robert Plompton … is even for every thing to this present day of August.
1598. R. Haydocke, trans. Lomazzo, To Rdr. I haue bettered mine, or at the least made even for such other imperfections, as can hardly escape the best translators.
1618. Bolton, Florus, IV. ix. (1636), 303. By the slaughter of Pacorus wee were even for Crassus overthrow.
1622. S. Ward, All in All (1627), 36. When he had distributed all he had to the poore, and made euen with his reuenues [etc.].
1637. Rutherford, Lett., No. 113 (1862), I. 283. I know that Christ and I shall never be Even: I shall die in His debt.
1661. Pepys, Diary, 25 June. I made even with my father and the two drapers for the cloths I sent to sea lately.
1780. Johnson, Lett. to Mrs. Thrale, 21 June. I wish I had been with you to see the Isle of Wight; but I shall perhaps go some time without you, and then we shall be even.
c. To be even († evens) with: to be quits with; to have one’s revenge upon.
14[?]. Merch. & Son, in Halliwell, Nugæ Poeticæ, 32. My fadur ys evyn wyth all the worlde.
1589. Hay any Work, A ij b. Ile be euen with them to.
1626. Buck. Imp. (1889), 63. Wherre uppon hee vowed to bee even with our Inglish.
1655–60. Stanley, Hist. Philos. (1701), 111/1. I will be even with you for this scorn.
1713. Addison, Guardian, No. 98, ¶ 7 (J.). The Publick is always Even with an Author who has not a just Deference for them.
1752. A. Breck Stewart, in Scots Mag., July (1753), 339/1. He would be evens with him.
1794. Mrs. Radcliffe, Myst. Udolpho, II. ii. 33. I was determined to be even with Barnardine for refusing to tell me the secret.
1831. Lytton, Godolphin, 9. Come out, and I’ll be even with you, pretty one.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), III. 264. Verily I would be even with thee, if I had the power.
11. That is a just mean between extremes; of proper magnitude or degree.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Prol., 83. Of his stature he was of evene lengthe.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, VI. 70. Be ewyn tyme off hyr age, A squier Schaw … hyr gat in mariage.
1577. B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., II. (1586), 80 b. There must be an euen temperature amongest these extreamities.
1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, I. xxxiv. (1664), 155. The rest of his traine came after him by even journeys [Fr. a justes journées] at a slower pace.
12. Of conduct, laws, and their administration: Equal towards all, just, impartial. † Also of weights and measures: Just, true.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Lev. xix. 36. Habbaþ … emne wæʓa and emne ʓemetu and sestras.
1382. Wyclif, Lev. xix. 46. Riȝt balaunce, and euen ben the weiȝtis, ryȝt bushel, and euen sextarye.
1637. Earl Stirling, Doomsday, 6th Hour. Yet were their aimes and ends in th’end not eaven.
1719. W. Wood, Surv. Trade, 17. The wisdom of the legislative Power consists in keeping an even hand to promote all.
1775. Johnson, Tax no Tyr., 33. Though power has been diffused with the most even hand.
† 13. Equal in rank, dignity or power; in earlier use with dat. or with til, to; also absol. Obs.
c. 1205. Lay., 22928. At þine borde … scal þe hehȝe beon æfne [c. 1275 efne] þan loȝe.
a. 1240. Lofsong, in Cott. Hom., 209. Þe oli goste · þet is efne wið þe and wið þin eadi feder.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter ii. 7. Þe son is of his fadire … euen til hym in godhed.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 341. Sum men seien þat he [the pope] is even wiþ the manheed of Crist.
c. 1400. Apol. Loll., 85. We awe not to arett … þingis formid of mannis craft, heyar nor euen to man in kynd.
a. 1450–1530. Myrr. Our Ladye, 103. These thre persones . were alyke euen in all thynges.
1565. Jewel, Repl. Harding (1611), 333. The Figure may not be far off from the Truth: otherwise it were no Figure: Neither may it be euen, and one with the Truth.
1674. N. Fairfax, Bulk & Selv., 117. Nevertheless, we may hold such a body to be even with another.
1720. Prior, For my Tombstone. To me ’twas given to die: To thee ’tis given to live: alas one moment sets us even.
1754. Richardson, Grandison, I. xxxix. 297. Is there no way to be even with him in any one thing?
b. To be even with: to be on a par, on equal terms with.
1593. Nashe, Four Lett. Confut., 86. You wil … imbrace anie religion which will be euen with the profession that fauors not you.
1633. Earl Manch., Al Mondo (1636), 24. For all this, man is even with Death.
1682. N. O., Boileau’s Lutrin, I. 250. We may with both in time be even.
1733. Fielding, Intrig. Chamberm., i. v. I am not the first gentleman … who has been even with his master.
¶ c. The Combs. of even- are sometimes resolved, so that the adj. in apparent syntactical concord expresses the sense of L. co-, Eng. fellow-, joint-.
a. 1000. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 214. Coheres, efn yrfeweard.
1382. Wyclif, Ezek. vii. 16. Thei shulen be in mounteyns as culueres of euyn valeys [Vulg. convallium].
1482. Monk of Evesham (Arb.), 103. He … schalle be an euyn heyre with me eternaly.
1483. Cath. Angl., 118. Euen, equus, co-, equalis.
14. Equal in magnitude, number, quantity, etc.
c. 1205. Lay., 29103. He hafde genge efne wið Gurmunde. Ibid., 30835. For his æfne wiht of golde.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), I. 325. Whan þe day and þe nyȝt beeþ euen.
c. 1420. Pallad. on Husb., I. 1121. Hardde pitche, and wex, take even weight.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., III. i. 280. The north schal be eendid by euen terme.
c. 1450. Castle Hd. Life St. Cuthb. (Surtees), 931. With’ childre of his euen elde.
1495. Act 11 Hen. VII., c. 39. The seid Edmond to pay yerely … CCCC li. at the same festis by evyn porcions.
1577. B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., III. (1586), 115. The legges and the thies … ought to be euen [L. æqualia], straight, & sound.
1660. H. Bloome, Archit., A c. From the top of the Capitall to the highest part of Trabeatio is three even parts.
1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, XII. v. Partridge … kept even pace with Jones.
1814. Scott, Ld. of Isles, III. xviii. Were my Monarch’s order given, Two shafts should make our number even.
1834. Medwin, Angler in Wales, I. 85. It is wax and caoutchouk even quantities, melted together.
b. Of even date: of the same date. (Common in U.S.; in England chiefly in legal language.)
1681. Indenture, 10 March. Reciting an Indenture of even date therewith.
1885. Weekly Notes, 142/1. By deed of even date he covenanted to pay all calls in respect of the shares.
c. absol. (See quot.)
1589. Puttenham, Eng. Poesie, III. xix. (Arb.), 222. Ye haue another figure [marg. Parison] which we may call the figure of euen, because it goeth by clauses of egall quantitie.
15. Of numbers: Divisible integrally into two equal parts; opposed to odd. Of a dance: Performed by an equal number of persons.
1557. Recorde, Whetst., A iij. Euen nombers are those, whiche maie be diuided into equalle halfes.
1577. B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., III. (1586), 138 b. He woulde your number should rather be odde then euen.
1586. W. Webbe, Eng. Poetrie (Arb.), 84. Then the daunce wyll be eune.
1603. Shaks., Meas. for M., III. i. 41. Death we feare That makes these oddes, all euen.
1650. Jer. Taylor, Holy Living, ii. § 5 (J.). Let him tell me, whether the number of the stars be even or odde.
1674. Playford, Skill Mus., II. 110. An even number of Quavers or Semiquavers, as 2, 4, 6 or 8 tyed together.
1759. Johnson, Rasselas, xlvii. The same number cannot be even and odd.
1801. Strutt, Sports & Past. (1876), 414. The army that presents a front of even numbers is called even hoste.
a. 1839. Praed, Poems (1864), II. 171. Death looks down with nods and smiles, And makes the odds all even.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 407. Three is an odd number and four is an even number.
b. Of objects in a series: Having a place marked by an even number. Even page: the left-hand page of a printed book.
1646. Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., IV. v. 193. The laterall division of man by even and odde, ascribing the odde unto the right side, and even unto the left.
1684. Earl Roscom., Ess. Verse (1709), 229. Accents regularly plac’d On even Syllables.
1824. L. Murray, Eng. Gram. (ed. 5), I. 374. The accents are to be placed on even syllables.
c. † Even and odd: all included, without exception. † For even or odd: for good and all. † For odd nor for even: on no account whatever. Evenly even, oddly even (see quots.).
c. 1440. Boctus, in Laud MS. 559. 10 b. He shulde … foryeven hym even and odde That he hadde doone.
c. 1450. Castle Hd. Life St. Cuthb. (Surtees), 4957. All’ ȝone oste, bathe euen and od.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., 170. I have sene the lamb of God … And towchid hym for even or od.
c. 1485. E. Eng. Misc. (Warton Club), 42. Loke thou lete, for oode ne for ewyne.
1557. Recorde, Whetst., A iij b. Euen nombers euenly, are such nombers as maie bee parted continually into euen halfes, till you come to an vnitie. As for example, 32.
1676. trans. Agrippa’s Van. Arts, xii. Arithmetic treats of Numbers … which is evenly odde, and which odly even.
1796. Hutton, Math. Dict., I. 450/1. Evenly Even Number, is that which an even number measures by an even number; as 16, which the even number 8 measures by the even number 2.
† d. Even and (or) odd: a game of chance; = Odd or even (see ODD). Hence To go even or odd. Obs.
1580. Hollyband, Treas. Fr. Tong, Per ou nom per … a play called euen or odde.
1598. Florio, Pari dispari, euen and odde, a kinde of play so called.
1681. W. Robertson, Phraseol. Gen. (1693), 551. To play at even or odd.
1710. Brit. Apollo, III. No. 5. 2/2. A. … Challenges B. to go even or odd with him for a certain Sum of Money.
1739. Cibber, Apol. (1756), I. 16. Socrates cou’d take pleasure … in playing at Even or odd with his children.
16. Of sums of money, numbers, etc.: ‘Round,’ expressible in integers, or in tens, scores, etc.; containing no fractions or ‘odd’ money.
1638. Penkethman, Artach., C ij b. Beginning with an odde 6 d. and ending with even shillings.
1720. Lond. Gaz., No. 5877/3. That … no Stock be allowed but in even 5l.
Mod. Of the price of bread, etc. Down again to even money.
17. † a. absol. in adverbial phrases: OE. on efn, on emn (see ANENT); ME. an emne, an evene, equally, quietly. To bring til even: to reconcile. Obs.
Beowulf, 5798. Him on efn liʓeþ ealdor-ʓewinna.
a. 1000. Byrhtnoth, 184 (Gr.). Þa on emn hyra frean feorh ʓesealdon.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gen. xvi. 12. He ʓewislice arærð æfre his ʓeteld on emne his ʓebroþra.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 9567. King steuene Vor lute poer & feblesse huld him al an euene.
c. 1315. Shoreham, 75. Ȝyf bothe beth of god wylle, And of assent an emne.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 134. Þan wer boþe þe kynges brouht alle tille euen.
b. quasi-sb. in various uses. † Of a person: One’s like or equal. † The even of it: the plain truth, ‘the long and short of it.’ Sporting. Something expressed in integers.
1393. Gower, Conf., II. 240. Of beaute sigh he never her even.
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., II. i. 128. The King hath run bad humours on the Knight, that’s the euen of it.
1889. Boy’s Own Paper, 14 Sept., 794/2. All the amateur records are ‘evens.’
18. Combined in phrases with hand. † At (of) even hand: on equal terms; also, without either gain or loss. † To go even hand: to go ‘in equipace’ with. To be even hands with: (Sc.) = ‘to be even with’: see 10.
1576. Fleming, Panopl. Epist., 363. The Muses … never flit, but followe thee, or rather, goe even hande with thee, and treade foote by foote?
1625. Bacon, Ess., Envy (Arb.), 512. Who so is out of Hope to attaine to anothers Vertue, will seeke to come at euen hand, by Depressing an others Fortune.
1650. R. Gentilis, Consid. Alcibiades, 33. He contents not himselfe to come out of trouble at even hand, by onely remaining comforted.
1756. W. Toldervy, Hist. Two Orphans, I. 38. Certainly, if a man will keep but of even hand, his ordinary expences ought to be but to the half of his receipts.
1822. Hogg, Perils of Man, I. 325 (Jam.). I’s be even hands wi’ them an’ mair.
