Whether vs Even - What's the difference?
whether | even |
(obsolete) Which of two.
* 1526 , William Tyndale, trans. Bible , Matthew XXVII:
* Bible, Matthew xxi. 31
(lb)
*1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , Mark II:
*:whether ys it easyer to saye to the sicke of the palsey, thy synnes ar forgeven the: or to saye, aryse, take uppe thy beed and walke?
*1616 , (William Shakespeare), (King John) , I.i:
*:Whether hadst thou rather be a Faulconbridge, [...] Or the reputed sonne of Cordelion?
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*:As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish,I do not suppose that it matters much in reality whether laws are made by dukes or cornerboys, but I like, as far as possible, to associate with gentlemen in private life.
*{{quote-news, year=2012, date=June 19, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport
, title= *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= ; if, whether or not.
:
:
Flat and level.
Without great variation.
Equal in proportion, quantity, size etc.
(not comparable, of an integer) Divisible by two.
(of a number) Convenient for ing other numbers to; for example, ending in a zero.
* 1989 , , Other People's Money , Act I:
* 1998 , paperback edition, ISBN 0060930934, page 253 [http://books.google.com/books?id=28iYykbTIhwC&pg=PA253&dq=even]:
On equal monetary terms; neither owing or being owed.
(colloquial) On equal terms of a moral sort; quits.
parallel; on a level; reaching the same limit
* Bible, Luke xix. 44
(obsolete) Without an irregularity, flaw, or blemish; pure.
* Shakespeare
(obsolete) Associate; fellow; of the same condition.
* Wyclif (Matt.)
To make flat and level.
* Sir Walter Raleigh
* Evelyn
(obsolete) To equal.
* Fuller
(obsolete) To be equal.
(obsolete) To place in an equal state, as to obligation, or in a state in which nothing is due on either side; to balance, as accounts; to make quits.
(obsolete) To set right; to complete.
(obsolete) To act up to; to keep pace with.
Exactly, just, fully.
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*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1
, passage=He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him. I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me.}}
*
*:Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers,. Even' such a boat as the ''Mount Vernon'' offered a total deck space so cramped as to leave secrecy or privacy well out of the question, ' even had the motley and democratic assemblage of passengers been disposed to accord either.
*{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
, chapter=1 *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=29, magazine=(The Economist)
, title=
:
(lb) Rather.
:
(archaic, or, poetic) Evening.
* 1526 , William Tyndale, trans. Bible , Matthew ch. 8:
As a pronoun whether
is (obsolete) which of two.As a conjunction whether
is (lb).As a noun even is
.whether
English
Pronoun
(English Pronouns)- The debite answered and sayde unto them: whether of the twayne will ye that I lett loosse unto you?
- Whether of them twain did the will of his father?
Conjunction
(English Conjunctions)England 1-0 Ukraine, passage=The incident immediately revived the debate about goal-line technology, with a final decision on whether it is introduced expected to be taken in Zurich on 5 July.}}
Old soldiers?, passage=Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. The machine gun is so much more lethal than the bow and arrow that comparisons are meaningless. One thing that is true, though, is that murder rates have fallen over the centuries, as policing has spread and the routine carrying of weapons has diminished.}}
Usage notes
* There is some overlap in usage between senses 2 and 3, in that a yes-or-no interrogative content clause can list the two possibilities explicitly in a number of ways:- Do you know whether he's coming or staying?''
- ''Do you know whether he's coming or not?''
- ''Do you know whether or not he's coming?''
even
English
(wikipedia even)Etymology 1
From (etyl), from (etyl) efen, efn, . The traditional proposal connecting the Germanic adjective with the root (etyl) ) is problematic from a phonological point of view.Schaffner, Stefan (2000). “Altindisch amnás'', urgermanisch *''e?na-'', kelt. *''e?no-''.” In: ''Indoarisch, Iranisch und die Indogermanistik. Akten des Kolloquiums der Indogermanischen Gesellschaft vom 2. bis 5. Oktober 1997 in Erlangen , Forssman, Bernhard & Plath, Robert (eds.), Wiesbaden, pp. 491–505. In German.Adjective
(en adjective)- Clear out those rocks. The surface must be even .
- Despite her fear, she spoke in an even voice.
- The distribution of food must be even .
- Four, fourteen and forty are even numbers.
- Coles. How many shares have you bought, Mr. Garfinkle?
- Garfinkle. One hundred and ninety-six thousand.
- Jorgenson. How'd you figure out to buy such an odd amount? Why not two hundred thousand — nice even' number. Thought you liked nice ' even numbers.
- He put me on the scale in my underwear and socks: 82 pounds. I left, humming all day long, remembering that once upon a time my ideal weight had been 84, and now I'd even beaten that. I decided 80 was a better number, a nice even number to be.
- You biffed me back at the barn, and I biffed you here—so now we're even .
- And shall lay thee even with the ground.
- I know my life so even .
- His even servant.
Usage notes
* Because of confusion with the "divisible by two" sense, use of to mean "convenient for rounding" is rare; the synonym round is more common.Synonyms
* (flat and level) flat, level, uniform * (without great variation) monotone (voice) * (convenient for rounding) round * (On equal monetary terms) quits (qualifier)Antonyms
* (flat and level) uneven * (of an integer) oddDerived terms
* break-even point * call it even * doubly even * even function * even keel * even odds * even-pinnate * even-steven, even-stevens * getting even * of even date * singly evenVerb
(en verb)- We need to even this playing field; the west goal is too low.
- His temple Xerxes evened with the soil.
- It will even all inequalities.
- to even him in valour
- (Shakespeare)
- (Shakespeare)
Synonyms
(to make flat and level ): flatten, levelDerived terms
* an even chance * break even * break-even * even as * even-handed * even if * even-keeled * evenly * evenhood * even money * even more * even out * even permutation * even stevens * even-tempered * even up * get even * of even date * unevenReferences
Etymology 2
From (etyl) .Adverb
(-)citation, passage=He read the letter aloud. Sophia listened with the studied air of one for whom, even in these days, a title possessed some surreptitious allurement.}}
Unspontaneous combustion, passage=Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia. The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of foul white smoke that, carried by the wind, can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles.}}
Usage notes
SeeDerived terms
* even as we speak * even so * even though * not even * not even oneEtymology 3
From (etyl) even, from (etyl) . Cognate with Dutch avond, Low German Avend, German Abend, Danish aften. See also the related terms (l) and (l).Noun
(en noun)- When the even was come they brought unto him many that were possessed with devylles [...].