Etymologically
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eye

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Pronunciation

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
  • 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