Etymology
1. O.E.
ege (Mercian),
eage (W. Saxon), from P.Gmc.
*augon, from PIE
*oqw- "to see" (cf. Skt.
akshi "the eye, the number two," Gk.
opsis "a sight," Goth.
augo, O.C.S.
oko, Lith.
akis, L.
oculus, Armenian
aku). Until c.1375 the plural was in
-an, hence modern dial. plural
een, ene. The verb is first recorded 1566. The
eye of a needle was in O.E.; to
see eye to eye is from Isa. lii.8;
eyewitness is from 1539.
Eyebrow is from 1585 (O.E.
eagbræw meant "eyelid");
eyelash from 1752;
eyelid first attested c.1240.
Eye-opener "anything that informs and enlightens" is from 1863.
Have an eye on "keep under supervision" is attested from c.1430.
2. Etymology tree
3. Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ-der.
4. Proto-Germanic *augô
5. Proto-West Germanic *augā
6. Old English ēage
7. Middle English eye
8. English eye
9. From Middle English e, eye, eyghe, eyȝe, eȝhe, iȝe, ye, yhe, from Old English ēage, ēge (“eye”), from Proto-West Germanic *augā, from Proto-Germanic *augô (“eye”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- (“eye; to see”). Related to ogle.
10. Cognates
11. Cognate with Yola iee (“eye”), Scots ee, eh (“eye”), North Frisian oog, uuch, uug (“eye”), Saterland Frisian Oge, Ooge (“eye”), West Frisian each (“eye”), Alemannic German, Bavarian Aug (“eye”), Central Franconian Au, Auch, Ooch (“eye”), Dutch oog (“eye”), German Aug, Auge (“eye”), Low German Auge, Oog (“eye”), Luxembourgish A (“eye”), Vilamovian aojg, aug, oüg (“eye”), Yiddish אויג (oyg, “eye”), Danish øje (“eye”), Elfdalian oga (“eye”), Faroese eyga (“eye”), Icelandic auga (“eye”), Norwegian Bokmål øye (“eye”), Norwegian Nynorsk aua, aue, auga, auge (“eye”), Scanian yva (“eye”), Swedish öga (“eye”), Crimean Gothic oeghene (“eyes”), Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐌲𐍉 (augō, “eye”), Estonian auk (“hole”), Finnish and Votic aukko (“hole”), Ingrian aukko, aukku (“hole”), Livonian ouk (“hole; hollow”).
12. Other Indo-European cognates include Breton eneb (“inverse; face; honour”), Cornish enep (“face; exterior; surface”), Gaulish ops (“eye”), Old Irish enech (“face; front; honour”), Welsh wyneb (“face; front; cheek”), Latin oclus, oculus (“eye”), Ancient Greek ὄψ (óps, “eye; face”), Albanian sy (“eye”), Latgalian and Latvian acs (“eye”), Lithuanian and Samogitian akis (“eye”), Old Prussian ackis (“eye”), Belarusian во́ка (vóka, “eye”), Bulgarian and Macedonian око́ (okó, “eye”), Carpathian Rusyn, Russian, and Ukrainian о́ко (óko, “eye”), Czech, Polish, Slovak, and Slovene oko (“eye”), Kashubian òkò (“eye”), Lower Sorbian hoko, woko (“eye”), Polabian våťü (“eye”), Serbo-Croatian о̏ко, ȍko (“eye”), Silesian ôko (“eye”), Slovincian wôkô (“eye”), Upper Sorbian woko (“eye”), Armenian ակն (akn, “eye”), Northern Kurdish enî (“forehead”), Ashkun aċĩ (“eye”), Kamkata-viri ače, ačẽ, ači (“eye”), Prasuni ižī, ižĩ (“eye”), Tregami ac̣ĩ (“eye”), Waigali ačẽ (“eye”), Tocharian A ak (“eye”), Tocharian B ek (“eye”), Sanskrit अक्षि (akṣi, “eye”).
13. The archaic plural form eyen is from Middle English eyen, from Old English ēaġan, nominative and accusative plural of ēaġe (“eye”). See: Frisian, Saterlandic 'Oge', Danish '
øje', Faroese '
eyga', Icelandic '
auga', Norwegian '
øye', Norwegian, nynorsk '
aua', Swedish '
öga', Cornish '
enep'.
Verbs referencing "eye"
Danish
øje.