even downadv.adj.n.
/ˈiːvn daʊn/, U.S. /ˈivən ˌdaʊn/, Scottish English /ˈivn dʌʊn/, Irish English /ˈiːv(ə)n daʊn/ Chiefly Scottish, English regional (northern), and (in later use) Irish English (northern).† C. n. Scottish.
A. adv.
1. Straight down, vertically. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > direction > specific directions > [adverb] > in downward direction > straight
adownrightOE
even downa1450
a1450 Pater Noster Richard Ermyte (Westm. Sch. 3) (1967) 48 (MED) When a man wole sette a stake depe into þe erþe þat it stonde stalworþely, he smytiþ þries or foure siþes on þe stake heued euen doun.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 190v Thai..derkon euon down on a depe slomur.
1618 M. Baret Hipponomie i. 66 Seat your selfe..with your body vpright,..your feet hanging euen downe.
1685 D. Abercromby Disc. Wit vi. 74 I take the hinder part of the Head to be high or bulky, when it is not cut in a manner even down, but over-reacheth the hollow of the Neck.
1899 B. Kirkby in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1900) II. 264/2 [Westmorland] It's raining ebben doon.
1934 Scots Mag. Nov. 143 The rain is pourin' even doon.
2. Downright; quite; completely, utterly. Now rare. Sc. National Dict. (at Evendoon) records this sense as still in use in Banffshire in 1944.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > utterly
allOE
allOE
outlyOE
thwert-outc1175
skerea1225
thoroughc1225
downrightc1275
purec1300
purelyc1300
faira1325
finelyc1330
quitec1330
quitelyc1330
utterlyc1374
outerlya1382
plainlya1382
straighta1387
allutterly1389
starkc1390
oultrelya1393
plata1393
barec1400
outrightc1400
incomparablyc1422
absolutely?a1425
simpliciter?a1425
staringa1425
quitementa1450
properlyc1450
directly1455
merec1475
incomparable1482
preciselyc1503
clean?1515
cleara1522
plain1535
merely1546
stark1553
perfectly1555
right-down1566
simply1574
flat1577
flatly1577
skire1581
plumb1588
dead?1589
rankly1590
stark1593
sheera1600
start1599
handsmooth1600
peremptory1601
sheerly1601
rank1602
utter1619
point-blank1624
proofa1625
peremptorily1626
downrightly1632
right-down1646
solid1651
clever1664
just1668
hollow1671
entirely1673
blank1677
even down1677
cleverly1696
uncomparatively1702
subtly1733
point1762
cussed1779
regularly1789
unqualifiedly1789
irredeemably1790
positively1800
cussedly1802
heart1812
proper1816
slick1818
blankly1822
bang1828
smack1828
pluperfectly1831
unmitigatedly1832
bodaciously1833
unredeemedly1835
out of sight1839
bodacious1845
regular1846
thoroughly1846
ingrainedly1869
muckinga1880
fucking1893
motherless1898
self1907
stone1928
sideways1956
terminally1974
1677 Bp. G. Burnet Mem. Dukes of Hamilton iv. 264 They would really and even down put on a Resolution to appear vigorously and to purpose in the Service.
1831 J. Wilson Noctes Ambrosianae lix, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Nov. 803 I even-down [1856 even-doun] deny the propriety, as weel's the applicability, o' the apophthegm.
1869 J. C. Atkinson Peacock's Gloss. Dial. Hundred of Lonsdale (at cited word) ‘He threaped ma evven-down’ = He flatly contradicted me.
1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby 61/1 That's even-down just.
1877 F. Ross et al. Gloss. Words Holderness (at cited word) He's even-doon fond, is that lad.
1898 D. Willox Poems & Sketches 91 Noo, wha could resist an invitation o' this kind..? It wad hae been evendoon bad manners tae hae dune sae.
1996 C. I. Macafee Conc. Ulster Dict. 117/1 Even-down, downright.
2018 K. D. Farrow in Lallans 92 19 A sweir evendoun at A im leal!
3. U.S. colloquial (esp. in African-American usage). As an intensive or emphatic particle: = even adv. 8. [Apparently a new formation, independent of the other uses of the word.]
ΚΠ
1936 T. Browne Natural Man (typescript) (N.Y. Publ. Libr.: NCOF+ p.v. 82) iv. 3 I built that throne. I built that stone palace you live in. Yes, even down built the roads so you could travel from place to place.
1953 J. M. Brewer Word on Brazos 30 Many a preachuh rat heah in de Bottoms c'mit 'dult'ry, drunk his lickuh, an' ebun down swo' in de pulpit.
1973 Black World Mar. 55/2 Amer'ca know it, Russia know it, the U.N. know it, even down you an me know it.
2003 C. L. Harris Garden Inclosed xvi. 130 Maybe I ort to found a real mama for both of them. I see that now. But back then I wouldn't even down know where to start looking.
B. adj.
1. Esp. of rain: coming straight down, vertical. Applied esp. to a heavy continuous fall of rain (in later use chiefly in even-down pour, sometimes apprehended as a use of downpour n.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > precipitation or atmospheric moisture > rain > [adjective] > heavy
steepc1330
pissingc1475
thightc1480
pouring1577
pashing1581
sad1590
steep-down1601
solid1621
even down1622
sluicy1697
pelting1710
buck1732
steeping1774
peppering1827
sluicing1847
torrential1849
peltering1858
plumping1879
teeming1880
lashing1885
monsoonish1886
sheeting1940
1622 D. Browne New Invention Calligraphia xlviii. 312 Some [Letters] haue..plaine even-downe stalkes.
1624 A. Leighton Speculum Belli Sacri 312 Shall the fear of Forraigns freeze the waters of our counsell, and never a fire of zeale; nor even-down rain of courage, to thaw or dissolue them?
1794 Har'st Rig lxxxiii. 27 Now it turns an eident blast, An even-down pour!
1822 J. Galt Steam-boat 258 An even-doun thunder-plump came on, that..drookit the Doctor to the skin.
1880 W. H. Patterson Gloss. Words Antrim & Down (at cited word) There was an even down pour.
1892 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words 268 An evendoon rain is a steady downpour.
1897 ‘L. Keith’ My Bonnie Lady 46 There had been an even-down-pour of rain in the night.
1928 A. E. Pease Dict. Dial. N. Riding Yorks. 38/1 ‘Hod t'stoup evendown’—hold the post quite straight or perpendicularly.
1937 in Sc. National Dict. (1952) III. 252/1 [Argyllshire] Ye nuvver saa sich rain: it wuz an even doon poor frae mornin tae nicht.
1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 95/1 Even-down, of rain: heavy, continuous downpour.
1996 C. I. Macafee Conc. Ulster Dict. 117/1 Even-down, of rain, heavy, continuous.
2. Downright, sheer, out-and-out; absolute.When applied to truth perhaps sometimes understood as a use of sense B. 3.In quot. 1823 used to refer to a confirmed or habitual drinker.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > utter or absolute
shirea1225
purec1300
properc1380
plainc1395
cleana1400
fine?a1400
entirec1400
veryc1400
starka1425
utterc1430
utterlyc1440
merec1443
absolute1531
outright1532
cleara1535
bloodyc1540
unproachable1544
flat1553
downright1577
sheer1583
right-down?1586
single1590
peremptory1601
perfecta1616
downa1625
implicit1625
every way1628
blank1637
out-and-outa1642
errant1644
inaccessional1651
thorough-paced1651
even down1654
dead1660
double-dyed1667
through stitch1681
through-stitched1682
total1702
thoroughgoing1719
thorough-sped1730
regular1740
plumb1748
hollow1751
unextenuated1765
unmitigated1783
stick, stock, stone dead1796
positive1802
rank1809
heart-whole1823
skire1825
solid1830
fair1835
teetotal1840
bodacious1845
raw1856
literal1857
resounding1873
roaring1884
all out1893
fucking1893
pink1896
twenty-four carat1900
grand slam1915
stone1928
diabolical1933
fricking1937
righteous1940
fecking1952
raving1954
1654 P. English Surv. Policy i. 59 So their government turned meerly popular, and became an even-down Commonwealth.
1654 P. English Surv. Policy i. 122 They had turned positive and even-down tyrants and destroyers of the Commonwealth.
1720 A. Ramsay Poems 181 In even down earnest, there's but few To vie with Ramsay, dare avow In Verse.
1786 R. Burns Twa Dogs xxx, in Poems 20 But Gentlemen, an' Ladies warst, Wi' ev'n down want o' wark are curst.
1789 D. Sillar Poems 186 It was a fiction, An ev'n doun perfect contradiction.
1817 W. Scott Rob Roy I. vi. 135 To tell your honour the even down truth.
1823 M. Corbett & M. Corbett Petticoat Tales I. 288 I may hae said that Andrew liked a drap drink, but that's no just an evendoun drinker.
1834 H. Taylor Philip van Artevelde i. i. vii. 63 In the even-down letter you are right.
1883 Dundee Courier & Argus 6 Apr. 7/5 [He] wad think naething o' even-doon murder.
1909 A. E. Barr Hands of Compulsion i. 16 No finer [poetry] was ever written, and all because it is the evendown truth.
1912 B. W. Green Word-bk. Virginia Folk-speech (ed. 2) 166 Even-down,..downright; direct; plain; flat: an even-down lie.
2005 R. Fairnie Scots Tung Wittins (SCOTS) No. 137 Scots isnae a minority language..but the kinch is the evendoon want o publishers an a national distr[i]bution wab.
2008 Irish Times 15 Sept. 23/3 You might..call a man an even-down bastard.
3. Plain, matter-of-fact, direct. Of a person: straightforward, plain-speaking, frank, honest; (also) upright, honourable, sincere. Now rare. Sc. National Dict. (at Evendoon) records this sense as still in use in various parts of Scotland in 1944.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > honourableness > [adjective]
faireOE
goodlyOE
selec1275
honourablec1384
just1509
ingenuous1610
squarea1644
even down1654
white1837
sportsmanlike1899
the world > action or operation > behaviour > unaffectedness or naturalness > [adjective] > straightforward or frank
right fortha1382
plaina1393
free-hearteda1398
round1487
opena1535
sincere1539
frank1555
pert1567
single-hearted1574
single-minded1577
direct1586
open-hearted1593
open-breasted1594
transparent1600
unclose1606
unminced1648
even down1654
unreserved1654
rugged1678
plain sailing1707
whole-footed1744
sturdy1775
heart-in-mouth1827
jannock1828
straightforward1829
direct-dealing1830
undiplomatic1834
straight-ahead1836
straight-up-and-down1859
man to man1902
1654 P. English Surv. Policy i. 30 Josephus in even-down termes telleth us, that he incited his followers to pride.
a1667 J. Fergusson Brief Expos. Epist. Paul to Thessalonians (1674) (1 Thess. iv. 6) 155 The open oppressour who pretends plain even down dealing, and kything himself to be what he is.
1713 R. Wodrow Analecta (1842) II. 240 He could not understand the reason why they wer not plain and even-doun.
1788 E. Picken Poems & Epist. 90 Be aye sincere, to a' intents, An' ye'll hae fewer failings: It's unca rare that ane repents O' plain, an' even-doun dealings.
1851 Sci. Amer. 27 Dec. 114/2 He is a fair, even down man; he tells plainly what he wants.
1899 Border Mag. Apr. 64/1 The history of the Braid Congregation under Mr. Brown's ministry has been one of growing prosperity, owing largely to..his ‘even-doon’ teaching and preaching.
1932 M. Finnegan Nancy Orr's Day 25 Maggie Hines was yer mither... A fine, honest, even-down girrul she was.
The plain truth. Also: candour, frankness. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > [noun] > the plain truth
the naked truth1436
the plainness1477
the even of ita1616
even downa1679
fact1680
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > sincerity, freedom from deceit > [noun] > frankness, straightforwardness
plainness1465
plain dealinga1529
freeness1548
roundness1557
ingenuity1614
apertness1618
downrightness1628
unconspiringness1661
frankness1668
even downa1679
undisguise1804
forthcomingness1808
undisguisedness1814
overtness1865
forthrightness1873
a1679 J. Welwood in P. Gillespie Rulers Sins (1723) 29 I'll tell you the Even-down of it, the Man that's saved, he goes through the Pricks.
1698 R. Wodrow Let. 6 Dec. in Early Lett. (1937) 2 I was never for complements..but as our Scotch proverb is, for broad even doun.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.adj.n.a1450- out of the road
- out of the road of
- out of the running
- out of the smoke into the fire
- out of the straw
- out of the top drawer
- out of the top of one's head
- out of the true
- out of the waterwards
- out of the way
- out of the way of
- out of the whole cloth
- out of the wood
- out of the woods
- out of the wool
- out of theats
- out of theet
- out of this world
- out of time
- out of tone
- out of touch
- out of town
- out of trace
- out of tram
- out of tree