▪ I. unˈeven, a.
[OE. unefen (f. un- un-1 7 + efen even a.), = OFris. oniovn (WFris. on-, ûneven, NFris. unēven, -īven), MDu. and Du. oneven, -effen, MLG. uneven, OHG. uneban (MHG. and G. uneben), ON. and Icel. {uacu}-, ójafn (Norw. ujamn, Sw. ojemn, Da. ujevn).]
1. a. Unequal; not properly corresponding or agreeing. Now rare.
| a 900 Cynewulf Crist 1460 Hu þær wæs unefen racu unc ᵹemæne! a 1225 Ancr. R. 312 Ure blod..aȝean his blode þet he shedde for us were ful unefne chaunge. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xlii. 1 My consciens and my ȝernynge is vneuen til þairs. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 279 Thou tellest forth, Hou that hire weyhte of love unevene Is unto thin. c 1450 Myrr. our Ladye 104 Yf it were vneuen to the tother, or faylynge in eny thynge that an other had. a 1470 H. Parker Dives & Pauper (W. de W. 1496) vii. xi. 293/1 By wyckednesse of false couetyse in the people men ben uneuen in rychesse. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. v. 9 So forth they traueld an vneuen payre,..A saluage man matcht with a Ladie fayre. 1609 J. Davies (Heref.) Holy Roode Wks. (Grosart) I. 8/2 What diff'rence is betweene those Hymnes diuine!.. They are as Fame, and Shame, no lesse vneu'n. 1669 Boyle Contn. New Exp. i. (1682) 40 Two pipes of Glass very uneven in length. 1885 Manch. Exam. 14 July 4/5 Stands are very uneven, and the size of the plant varies from 2 in. to 3½ ft. |
b. Of numbers: Odd. Also of things: Making up, or marked by, an odd number.
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 35 Which Plinie accounteth to haue vneauen corners as Pease hath. 1598 Florio, Disparo, vneeuen, or od in number, vnequall. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 173 Nothing ought to be eaten by euen numbers, but by vneuen, wherewith God is pleased. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 78 Let rauisht Poets drinke thrice three, Of whom the vneuen Muses be Belou'd. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Number, The Sum, or the Difference, of two uneven Numbers, makes an even Number. 1771 Luckombe Hist. Printing 265 According to the folio either of an even, or uneven page. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 485 Then the triad or number three is uneven. 1888 Jacobi Printers' Vocab., Uneven pages, pages with odd folios, such as 1, 3, 5, etc. |
† 2. Unequitable, unfair, unjust:
a. Of acts, etc.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 316 Summe ben too wel fed bi vneuene partyng of here goodis. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxxi. (1495) 922 For euen and vneuen dedes that here ben doon. 1585 Abp. Sandys Serm. ii. 40 If merchaunts..doe inriche themselues by impouerishing others, through deceitfull shifts, the common wealth suffereth dammage by their vneuen dealings. 1613 J. Fletcher Christ's Bloody Sweat 11 By courses indirect and lawes vn-euen, Of will and sensuall lust. |
† b. Of persons, etc.
Obs.| c 1400 Apol. Loll. 104 Þei are vnfeiþful to þer souereyns, vn euyn to þer lowar. a 1500 Ratis Raving Prol. 60 He saw..rychtwysmen and god-lyk baith, With wykyt men & wnewyne lyk scaith. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. iii. 392 They are in this their partition, so parciall and vneuen dealers, that they will not leaue to Christ, the whole cleansing of the guilt. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xxi. 780/2 N. D. with his vneuen hand (euer ouerhard to shadow the truth). 1641 Milton Animadv. 7 Sir Francis Bacon..complaines of the Bishops uneven hand over these Pamflets. |
3. Diverging from a straight or exactly parallel position. (In early
quots. fig.)
| 1390 Gower Conf. I. 30 Thei hemself divide And stonden out of reule unevene. Ibid. II. 126 Among the vices..Ther is yit on..Which al this world hath set unevene. 1639 Ld. Digby Lett. conc. Relig. (1651) 90 And lines many times that at first appear parallels to the eie..prove apparently uneven. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xxiv. ¶15 If..the sides of the Sheet lye uneven upon the Tympan-sheet. 1862 M. E. Braddon Lady Audley i, The windows were uneven. |
4. Not smooth or level; irregular, broken, rugged.
a. Of ground, etc.
| c 1275 in O.E. Misc. 75/88 Þe weyes beoþ vn-euene, Wiþ wepynde stefne To helle he schulle þenne. 1565 Cooper s.v. Inæquabilis, An open place beyng high and low, or vneuen. 1577 Googe tr. Heresbach's Husb. i. 42 b, Beastes and Poultry..with tramplyng and skraping wyll make it rugged and uneven. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. ii. 26 Eight yards of vneuen ground, is threescore & ten miles afoot with me. 1618 J. Taylor (Water P.) Penniless Pilgr. E 4, The way so vneuen, stonie, and full of bogges. 1653 W. Ramesey Astrol. Restored 91 Aquaries [governs] Hilly and uneven places. 1746 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. I. 440 As we march'd, all the way up hill, and over very uneven Ground, our men were greatly Blown. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) I. 290 In it [sc. the sea-bottom] we find the same uneven surface that we do upon land. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-bks. (1871) II. 199 On the verge and within the crater of an extinct volcano, and therefore..as uneven as the sea in a tempest. |
| fig. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iv. i. 5 Vneuen is the course, I like it not. a 1596 Sir T. More iv. v. 4 You see the floore of greatnesse is uneuen. |
b. In general use.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iv. iii. (1495) e vj b/1 The vtter partyes ben vneuyn wyth holownes sonke and had partes areryd. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. viii. 48 For one of them was like an Eagles claw,..The other like a Beares vneuen paw. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. 162 The sorting together of Wools of seueral natures,..which causeth cloth to cockle and be uneven. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xvii. ¶2 [He] cuts out what may remain in the bottom of the Shanck by reason of the un-even breaking. 1712 J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 140 Its Bark is somewhat rugged and uneaven. 1798 S. & Ht. Lee Canterb. T. II. 431 The uneven writing..proved that it was sent while the young man was still fluctuating between life and death. 1810 Crabbe Borough xxii. 178 The sun-burnt tar..And bank-side stakes in their uneven ranks. 1855 Poultry Chron. III. 522/1 The upper part of the cell..being more convex; therefore, the comb is very uneven. |
| absol. 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) I. 157 Fracture, fine or coarse splintery, which sometimes pass into the uneven of a fine grain. |
c. transf. and
fig. (of immaterial things, sounds, style, etc.).
OE. unefn,
unemn, occurs in similar uses.
| (a) 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. i. 50 Farre more vneuen and vnwelcome Newes Came from the North. 1603 ― Meas. for M. iv. iv. 3 In most vneuen and distracted manner, his actions show much like to madnesse. 1649 Lovelace Poems (1864) 114 Where is a joy uneven, There never, never can be Heav'n. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 159 Such is the uneven State of human Life. 1763 Scrafton Indostan iii. (1770) 76 The uneven temper of the Soubah could never long retain its disguise. 1886 J. J. H. Burgess Shetland Sketches, etc. i. 48 He..went away down to the house, feeling very sorrowful, and mad, and altogether uneven. |
| (b) 1608 Willet Hexapla Exod. 50 The horses euill and vneuen going proceedeth of his owne lamenes. |
| (c) 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. iii. ix. 150 Not only with cold Air, but with any other uneven noise, passing through their Mouth into their Ears. 1731 Pope Ep. Burlington 143 Light quirks of Music, broken and uneven. 1811 W. R. Spencer Poems Ded., His strain is weak, his voice uneven. |
| (d) 1763 J. Brown Poetry & Music vi. 111 Homer is equal, large, flowing, and harmonious; Eschylus is uneven, concise, abrupt, and rugged. |
| (e) 1905 R. Brooke Let. 25 Mar. (1968) 19 It's not a bad number [of a magazine], a bit uneven of course; but then you can't expect the other men to ascend to my level. 1974 Country Life 7 Feb. 240/2 Almost no one was more uneven, as it is politely called, than G. F. Watts. |
5. Comb., as
uneven-carriaged,
uneven-numbered,
uneven-roofed;
uneven-aged a., (of a group of trees) containing individuals of different ages.
| 1670 Brooks Wks. (1867) VI. 342 A rotten heart, is a very uneven-carriaged heart. 1882 Contemp. Rev. Aug. 234 The 16 alternate or uneven-numbered sections in all townships. 1887 J. J. Hissey Holiday on Road i. 3 Weather-stained out⁓buildings, lichen-laden and uneven-roofed. 1905 Terms Forestry & Logging (U.S. Dept. Agric. Bureau Forestry) 14 Forests in which the trees differ considerably in age..uneven-aged forest. 1953 H. L. Edlin Forester's Handbk. vii. 105 Woodlands may..be..uneven-aged, with trees of various ages and therefore differing sizes. |
▸
uneven bars n. Gymnastics (chiefly
N. Amer.)
= asymmetric bars n. at
asymmetric adj. Additions;
cf. uneven parallel bars n. at Additions.
| 1952 N.Y. Times 21 Dec. v. 5/4 *Uneven Bars—Margit Korondi, Hungary. 1974 Marysville (Ohio) Jrnl.-Tribune 26 Nov. 5/4 Olga did her famous back flip on the high uneven bar, and showed her highly flexible moves on the beam. 2003K. G. Harmon in A. Rubin Sports Injuries & Emergencies xxxvii. 306 Hand position required to complete certain maneuvers, particularly on uneven bars, may place the shoulder or elbow at risk for dislocation. |
▸
uneven parallel bars n. Gymnastics (chiefly
N. Amer.)
= asymmetric bars n. at
asymmetric adj. Additions;
cf. uneven bars n. at Additions.
| 1943 N.Y. Times 18 Apr. (Sports section) 2/3 The events scheduled for this championship include the Olympic program, consisting of parallel bars, even and *uneven; balance beam; [etc.]. 1952 Amateur Athletic Union U.S. Gymnastics Yearbk. 81 You should start training immediately on the compulsory and optional exercises on the Uneven Parallel Bars. 1981 Gettysburg (Pa.) Times 26 May 14/1 The Gettysburg youth won a gold medal in the uneven parallel bar and a bronze medal for the balance beam. 2003 Dance Spirit July–Aug. 129/3 She was sidelined by a back injury after a dismount from the uneven parallel bars. |
▪ II. unˈeven, adv. [OE. unefne (f. un- un-1 11 b + efne even adv.), = MDu. onevene, -effene (obs. Du. oneven), OS. unefno, MLG. unevene, -even, MHG. unebene, -eben.] = unevenly adv.| c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Thorpe) cxl. 9 Swa unefne is eorþe þicce. c 1275 in O.E. Misc. 86/1 Weole, þu art awaried þing, vneuene constu dele. a 1300 Cursor M. 24178 Þou..folus þam þat þe wald fle, And luues all þat letthes þe, þis part vneuen es delt. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 9 So stant the pes unevene parted. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxxi. 96 The ballance gois vnevin. |
▪ III. unˈeven, v. [un-2 6 a.] To make uneven.
| c 1440 Pallad. On Husb. x. 100 For eny thyng no beest vppon hit trede; Vneven hit they wolde, hit is to drede. |