Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1728, 1808, 1873-1889
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EVENLY, Evinly, adj. Applied to the surface of the ground, etc.: smooth, even, level (Ags.19, Arg.3 1950). Also used fig.Sc. 1728 Ramsay Poems II. 89:
Then Poets shaw'd these evenly Roads, That lead to Dwellings of the Gods.Sc. 1808 Jam.:
Thus we speak of . . . an evinly course both as respecting progress in a journey, and the tenor of one's conduct.Rnf. a.1874 J. M. Neilson in Poets of the Lennox (1889) 284:
On their fair chubby faces we see Sic' an evenly sweetness o' rest.
Hence (1) evenlier, more even (Uls. 1880 Patterson Gl. Ant. and Dwn.); (2) evenliness, fig., composure, calm, equanimity.(2) Ayr. 1889 H. Johnston Glenbuckie xxii.:
He would pass the contemplative night wandering over the familiar grassy mounds with a fair degree of mental evenliness.
