Etymologically
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Auge

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈaʊ̯ɡə/[1]

Forms

Auge n (genitive Auges, plural Augen, diminutive Äugelchen n or Äuglein n or Äugelein n)[1] Old and Middle High German declined the word weakly, with occasional strong plurals such as Wolfram's sîniu ouge.[2] Today the singular is strong and the plural weak.[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German ouge, inherited from Old High German ouga, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *augā, inherited from Proto-Germanic *augô (“eye”).[4][5][1] The same word is Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐌲𐍉 (augō), Old Norse auga, Old English ēage, Old Frisian āge and Old Saxon ōga, and in the modern languages Dutch oog, English eye, Swedish öga and Icelandic auga.[4][5][6] It continues the Indo-European word for the eye, from the root Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- (“eye; to see”), which is also found in Sanskrit अक्षि (ákṣi), Ancient Greek ὄσσε (ósse, “the two eyes (dual)”), Latin oculus, Old Church Slavonic око (oko) and Lithuanian akìs.[4][5][2] The Duden dictionary notes that if the root first meant “to see”, the eye was named as “the seer”.[7]

The Germanic diphthong is irregular.[4][5] The expected form would have had /a/ and a /gw/ cluster, which may survive in the Old High German adjective awizoraht (“evident”), recorded about 800.[5][2] Pfeifer, the Grimms' revised dictionary and Kroonen explain the /au/ as taken over from the word for the ear, Proto-Germanic *auzô (see Ohr).[5][2][6] Kluge speaks instead of an irregular shift of the /w/ of the labiovelar, as in Haupt.[4] Kroonen also mentions, as more doubtful, a blend of two stem forms that arose within the paradigm through Verner's law.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German ouga is recorded from the third quarter of the 8th century in glosses, and then in the Isidor translation, the Monsee Fragments, Tatian, Otfrid and Notker.[8][9][10] It meant “eye”, and also “look, sight, face”.[8][10] Phrases such as under ougōn “in someone's face” and ze ougon bringen “to make visible” are already found.[10]

Semantic evolution

By the Early New High German period auge also meant a bud on a plant, the pip of a die and the point of a playing card.[11][8] The Duden dictionary groups the transferred uses as things shaped like an eye: openings and spots, a bud, a pip on a die and a drop of fat on soup.[7] The use of äugeln for grafting by budding, which follows the sense “bud”, became common in the 17th century.[5] Modern German also uses the word for the eye of a storm.[8][1]

Paul calls the word central to Goethe, for whom the eye both takes in the world and reveals the mind.[3] Many phrases come from Luther's Bible, among them Gnade vor jemandes Augen finden (Genesis 18:3) and sich die Augen ausweinen.[3] Ein Auge auf etwas haben “to aim at something secretly” is recorded by Adelung, and ein Auge auf etwas werfen by Kramer in 1700.[3]

Timeline

  • 3rd quarter of the 8th century – Old High German ouga appears in glosses.[8][9]
  • c. 800 – The adjective awizoraht “evident” is glossed.[5]
  • 12th century – Old High German ougaphul “eyeball” is found in a manuscript of this date.[5]
  • Mid-14th century – The participle geöugelt describes peacock feathers “provided with eyes”.[5]
  • 16th century – Äugeln “to cast loving glances” and liebäugeln come into use.[5]
  • 17th century – Äugeln is used for grafting by budding.[5]
  • Early 19th century – Äugen “to look” becomes frequent, chiefly as a hunting word.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The eye, the organ of sight of humans and many animals: Sie hat grüne Augen.[12][1]
  2. A bud or shoot on a plant, especially on a potato, a vine or a fruit tree.[12][1]
  3. A pip on a die; in some card games, the points a card counts.[12][13]
  4. A drop of fat floating on a liquid, usually on soup.[12][1]
  5. (nautical) A loop spliced at the end of a rope, or a large eyelet in a rope's end.[12]
  6. The hole for the handle of a hammer or an axe.[12]
  7. The eye of a storm, the calm area at its centre.[1][13]

Word family

  • Augapfel
  • äugen
  • äugeln
  • liebäugeln
  • Augenblick
  • Augenbraue
  • Augenlid
  • Augenmaß
  • Augenschein
  • blauäugig
  • Hühnerauge
  • Neunauge
  • Fettauge
  • Bullauge
  • ereignen
  • Okular
  • Optik
  • English eye

Usage notes

Auge um Auge, Zahn um Zahn “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” comes from the Bible and originally described the penalties of a code of law.[7] Das Auge des Gesetzes (jocular) “the police” became known through Schiller's Lied von der Glocke.[7] Jemandem Sand in die Augen streuen “to deceive someone” goes back to the old trick of throwing sand in an opponent's eyes in a fight.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm, Neubearbeitung (1965–2018), ed. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 9 vols. (A–F), Leipzig / Stuttgart: Hirzel, p. 3, 870
  3. ^ a b c d Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  4. ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 74
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  6. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 116
  8. ^ a b c d e Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 6, 1252
  9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  10. ^ a b c Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 247
  11. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
  12. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  13. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org