even
/ˈiː.vən/
"even" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“even” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #108. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #108
- frequency rank, English
- 18,836
- “E” headwords
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Flat and level.
Corpus desk
Index EN-even · even · English
even · rank #108 · 5 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-CORE #108
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 5 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 18,836
- PHOTO-FINISH where
Nearest frequency peer: where (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “even”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- much
much
99,896 corpus weight
- very
very
99,895 corpus weight
- where
where
99,894 corpus weight
- even
even
99,893 corpus weight
- should
should
99,892 corpus weight
- may
may
99,891 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “even” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | even |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈiː.vən/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #108 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “even” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 5 spelling variants around even (IPA /ˈiː.vən/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #108 among 18,836 “E” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for even, with forms such as "eevn", "evenn", and "evne". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "eye", "evo", "exe", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English even, from Old English efn (“flat; level, even, equal”), from Proto-West Germanic *ebn, from Proto-Germanic *ebnaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)em-no- (“equal, straight; flat, level, even”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian íeuwen (“even… The correct English form is even, spelled E-V-E-N.
Definition
- 1Flat and level.
- 2Without great variation.
- 3Equal in proportion, quantity, size, etc.
- 4Of an integer, divisible by two.
- 5Of a number, convenient for rounding other numbers to; for example, ending in a zero.
- 6On equal monetary terms; neither owing nor being owed.
- 7On equal terms of a moral sort; quits.
- 8Parallel; on a level; reaching the same limit.
- 9Without an irregularity, flaw, or blemish; pure.
- 10Associate; fellow; of the same condition.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how even appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Clear out those rocks. The surface must be even.
Despite her fear, she spoke in an even voice.
Etymology
From Middle English even, from Old English efn (“flat; level, even, equal”), from Proto-West Germanic *ebn, from Proto-Germanic *ebnaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)em-no- (“equal, straight; flat, level, even”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian íeuwen (“even, flat”), West Frisian even (“even”), Alemannic German ëben (“even”), Cimbrian ébane (“even”), Dutch even (“even, equal, same”), effen (“leveled”), German eben (“even, flat, level”), Danish jævn (“even, flat, smooth”), Icelandic jafn (“even”), Norwegian Bokmål jevn (“even, smooth”), Norwegian Nynorsk jamn (“even, smooth”), Swedish jämn (“even, level, smooth”), Gothic 𐌹𐌱𐌽𐍃 (ibns, “even”), Old Cornish eun (“equal, right”) (attested in Vocabularium Cornicum eun-hinsic (“iustus, i. e., just”)), Old Breton eun (“equal, right”) (attested in Eutychius Glossary eunt (“aequus, i. e., equal”)), Middle Breton effn, Breton eeun, Sanskrit अम्नस् (amnás, “(adverb) just, just now; at once”). The verb descends from Middle English evenen, from Old English efnan; the adverb from Middle English evene, from Old English efne. 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”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- eevn
- evenn
- evne
- evven
- veen
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of even - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "even", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.