œil French · revision 16302

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 10th century, Passion de Clermont|origins=la oculus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /œj/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''œil''' ''m'' (plural yeux or œils)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|ol]] (about 980), [[m|fro|oil]] (about 1050), [[m|fro|ueil]] and [[m|fro|uel]] (12th century); ''œil'' from 1342.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ The plural went from ''olz'' and ''ialz'' to ''ieus'', ''yeus'' (12th century), ''yeulx'' (1342) and ''yeux''; it continues the Latin accusative plural ''oculos'' regularly.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) In compounds and some technical senses the plural is ''œils'' (''des œils-de-bœuf'').^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|oil]], [[inh|la|oculus|t=eye]], through a Vulgar Latin “oclus”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|7, 310a) The Latin word also named anything shaped like an eye, such as a spot on a fur or a peacock's tail, or a bud, and was used as a term of endearment.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Its suffix, according to Rey, marks an active, animate being rather than a diminutive, Littré took it as a diminutive.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ The root is the Indo-European word for “eye, see”, which Wiktionary gives as [[ine-pro|*h₃ekʷ-]]; it is found in [[sa|ईक्षते|tr=ī́kṣate|t=he looks]], [[grc|ὤψ|tr=ṓps|t=sight; face]], [[ru|око|tr=oko]], [[de|Auge]] and [[en|eye]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary) Rey notes that the name of the eye varies from language to language partly because of beliefs about the evil eye.^(DHLF 1992) “Œil” is a doublet of the learned [[oculus]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[ro|ochi]], [[it|occhio]], [[oc|uelh]], [[ca|ull]], [[es|ojo]] and [[pt|olho]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in the ''Passion de Clermont'' (late 10th century), in the plural ''olz'' “eyes” (''sos olz torned'').^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By about 1100 the ''Chanson de Roland'' uses it of the eye as a feature of the face (''Vairs out les oilz'' “he had bright eyes”), as the organ of sight (''ja nel verrai des oilz'' “I shall never see him with my eyes”) and of opening the eyes.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) The eye as the sign of feelings appears in ''de bon oeil veeir'' “to look on kindly” (1155).^(TLFi)

+

+ A large phraseology grew up: ''oil pour oil'' “an eye for an eye” (about 1265), ''un trait d'œil'' (1450–1465) and then ''coup d'œil'' (1668), ''avoir les yeux plus grands que le ventre'' (1580, Montaigne), ''pour les beaux yeux de quelqu'un'' (1640), ''faire de l'œil'' (1665), ''entre quatre yeux'' (1690) and ''obéir au doigt et à l'œil'' (1812, after Cotgrave's ''servi au doigt et à l'œil'', 1611).^(TLFi) Slang used ''œil'' for “credit” (1843), and popular French made the verb [[zieuter]] from ''les yeux'' (1907).^(BHVF)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 10th century – Plural ''olz'' in the ''Passion de Clermont''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1050 – ''Oil'' in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1155 – ''De bon oeil'' in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1265 – ''Oil pour oil'' in Brunetto Latini.^(TLFi)

+ * 1342 – The spellings ''oeil'' and ''yeulx''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1580 – ''Avoir les yeux plus grands que le ventre'' in Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1668 – ''Coup d'œil'' in Molière's ''Amphitryon''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1843 – Slang ''œil'' “credit”.^(BHVF)

+ * 1907 – ''Zieuter'', from ''les yeux''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|eye]], organ of sight (plural ''yeux''): ''avoir les yeux bleus''.^(Wiktionary)^(Littré 1873)

+ # Look, [[m|en|gaze]]; way of looking at something: ''d'un bon œil'', ''coup d'œil''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # Attention, watchfulness: ''avoir l'œil sur quelqu'un'', ''avoir l'œil'', to be observant.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+ # An eye-shaped hole: the eye of a needle (plural ''œils'').^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(typography)'' The face of a character (plural ''œils'').^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(dated slang)'' [[m|en|credit|alt=Credit]] at a shop or restaurant.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[œillère]]

+ * [[œillet]]

+ * [[œillade]]

+ * [[œilleton]]

+ * [[ouiller]]

+ * [[œil-de-bœuf]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[inoculer]]

+ * [[oculaire]]

+ * [[oculiste]]

+ * [[oculus]]

+ * [[zieuter]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}