eage

Forms

ēage n (weak; genitive singular ēagan, nominative plural ēagan)^[1] Anglian ēġe, in the Épinal Glossary ⟨egan⟩ and the Erfurt Glossary ⟨ægan⟩.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *augā, from Proto-Germanic *augô (“eye”).^[1][4] The word is found in all the old Germanic languages: Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐌲𐍉 (augō), Old Norse auga, Old Frisian āge, Old Saxon ōga and Old High German ouga.^[4][5][6]

It goes back to the Indo-European word for the eye, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- (“to see”): Kroonen sets up an n-stem *h₃okʷ-n- and compares Latin oculus, Lithuanian akis and Ancient Greek ὄσσε (ósse, “both eyes”).^[1][4][7] In Germanic it joined the n-stems that name parts of the body.^[4]

The diphthong is unexpected: Kroonen explains it from the word for the ear, *auzô; another view sees a blend of two stem forms that Verner's law split within one paradigm, which he thinks less likely.^[4] Holthausen and Orel likewise take it from an older form without the diphthong, reshaped after the ear.^[6][5] In Old English it is a weak neuter, like ēare.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded in the oldest English glosses: the Épinal Glossary, of the late seventh century, glosses Latin “uitiato oculo” “with a damaged eye” with unþyctgi egan, in the Anglian form; the Corpus Glossary (s. ix¹) has unðyhtge egan.^{[2][9][10][11]}

Semantic evolution

Besides the eye itself, the word names an opening, above all the eye of a needle, rendering Latin “foramen” in the Gospels.^[12][6][13] In the laws the loss of an eye is assessed for compensation, the eagan bot.^[14] The poets use it in phrases such as eagena gesihþ “the sight of the eyes”.^[12]

The word lived on as Middle English eye, now English eye, from around 1200.^[1][3]

Timeline

• s. vii ex. – egan in the Épinal Glossary.^[9][2]
• s. ix¹ – unðyhtge egan in the Corpus Glossary.^[10][11]
• 890×897 – behald ðin eagean & ðin earan in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[15][1]
• s. x/xi – ēagum in the Beowulf manuscript.^[16][17]

Meanings

Noun

1. an eye.^[12][13][17]
2. an opening, a hole; the eye of a needle.^[12][6]

Word family

• ēaġþyrel
• ēaġduru
• ēaġwræc
• ēaġsealf
• ēaġhring
• ānēaġe
• cūēaġe

Descendants

• Middle English eye (→ English eye; Middle Scots ee; Middle Scots e)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Pheifer, J. D. (1974), Old English Glosses in the Épinal-Erfurt Glossary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 146
3. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 41
5. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 28
6. ^ a b c d Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 83
7. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 54
8. ^ Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 2.80
9. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 610
10. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 76
11. ^ a b Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
12. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 226
13. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. éage 1
14. ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 57
15. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
16. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344
17. ^ a b Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. ēaġe