eye

Pronunciation

• IPA: /aɪ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English eie, earlier ehe,^[2][3] inherited from Old English ēage (West Saxon), ēge (Mercian),^[4][2] from Proto-Germanic *augon,^[4][2] the source also of Old Saxon ōga, Dutch oog, Old High German ouga (German Auge), Old Norse auga and Gothic augō.^[2][5] The diphthong au is not fully explained, but is partly due to the influence of the Germanic word for ear.^[2] Its cognates outside Germanic include Latin oculus, Greek ṓps “eye, face”, Lithuanian akìs, Old Church Slavonic oko, Armenian akn and Sanskrit ákṣi, from Proto-Indo-European *okʷ- (“to see”).^[2][5][6] Etymonline holds that the Germanic form developed irregularly from this root.^[4] The verb is from the noun.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English ēge is found about 700 in compounds;^[2] the OED's first quotation is from before 700.^[7] In Old English the word also meant the region around the eye and a hole or opening.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Until the late 14th century the plural ended in -an, hence the dialect plural een.^[4][8] The eye of a needle is already Old English; the eyes of a peacock's tail are from the late 14th century, a loop for a hook from the 1590s, and the buds of a potato from the 1670s.^[4] To keep an eye on is from the early 15th century,^[4] the mind's eye is used in Hamlet,^[4] and to see eye to eye comes from Isaiah 52:8.^[4] The eyes are the window of the soul goes back at least to 1545.^[9] The verb meant “to cause to see” before 1425, and “to look at, observe” from 1566.^[2][7] Make eyes at is from 1837, and eye contact from 1953.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 700 – Old English ēge in compounds.^[2]
• c. 1200 – Middle English eie.^[2]
• before 1425 – verb, to cause to see.^[2]
• 1545 – the eyes as windows of the mind.^[9]
• 1566 – verb, to look at.^[7]
• 1590s – a loop for a hook.^[4]
• 1670s – the bud of a potato.^[4]
• 1837 – make eyes at.^[4]
• 1953 – eye contact.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The organ of sight.
2. The ability to see; the ability to judge or notice: an eye for detail.
3. A look or gaze; close watch: keep an eye on.
4. Something like an eye, such as the hole in a needle, a loop for a hook, or a bud on a potato.
5. The calm centre of a hurricane.

Verb

1. To look at, especially closely or with interest.

Word family

• eyeless
• eyelike
• eyer
• eyeable
• uneyeable

Related words

• ocular
• optic
• ophthalmic
• window
• daisy
• eyeball
• eyebrow
• eyelash
• eyelid
• eyesight

Usage notes

In Cheshire, Lincolnshire and Somerset an eye was also a brood of pheasants, an unrelated word.^[8][7]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
9. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press