Where does “een” come from?

Even comes from Middle English even, Old English efn, and Proto-Germanic ēbandaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₁epi meaning "upon" or "at," which also produced the form h₁eps.

een (English): plural of eye; even; evening

Definitions

  1. plural of eye; even; evening

Ancestry of “een”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishEvenAn ethnic Even: a member of an indigenous people...
2Middle Englishevensmoothly, evenly
3Old Englishefnequal, level, even
4Proto-West Germanicebneven, level
5Proto-Germanicebnazeven, level
6Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁émnosequal, straight; flat, level, even

Words derived from “een”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁émnos →