As an adjective, 'even' means flat, smooth, or equal, like an even surface or an even score. As an adverb, it emphasizes something surprising or extreme, as in 'He didn’t even call.'
It comes from Old English 'efen', meaning 'level, equal, like'. The idea of flatness and equality later stretched into time and number meanings, like 'even numbers' and 'evenly matched'.
The same word that means 'flat' also powers emotional surprise: 'even you?' suggests your expectations just got flattened. In math, 'even' numbers split perfectly in half, so the word always hides a quiet idea of balance and fairness.
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