Open main menu
Wiktionary

eye

EnglishEdit

 
A human eye, showing iris and pupil behind the transparent cornea
 
Compound eye of a species of fly, showing size gradation of ommatidia from top down. The ocelli are just visible at the top between the compound eyes
 
Eye of a sewing needle with thread passing through
 
The eye of a tropical cyclonic storm shows here as a dark spot in the middle of the white vortex of cloud as seen from a satellite

PronunciationEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From Middle English eye, eie, yë, eighe, eyghe, yȝe, eyȝe, from Old English ēage (“eye”), from Proto-Germanic *augô (“eye”) (compare Scots ee, West Frisian each, Dutch oog, German Auge, Norwegian Bokmål øye, Norwegian Nynorsk auga, Swedish öga), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃okʷ-, *h₃ekʷ- (“eye; to see”) (compare Latin oculus, Lithuanian akìs, Old Church Slavonic око (oko), Albanian sy, Ancient Greek ὀφθαλμός (ophthalmós, “eye”), Armenian ակն (akn), Avestan 𐬀𐬱𐬌‎ (aši, “eyes”), Sanskrit अक्षि (ákṣi)). Related to ogle.

The uncommon plural form eyen is from Middle English eyen, from Old English ēagan, nominative and accusative plural of Old English ēage (“eye”).

NounEdit

eye (plural eyes or (obsolete or dialectal) eyen)

  1. An organ through which animals see.
    • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest‎[1]:
      She was like a Beardsley Salome, he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry. His wooing had been brief but incisive.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 17, in The China Governess‎[2]:
      The face which emerged was not reassuring. It was blunt and grey, the nose springing thick and flat from high on the frontal bone of the forehead, whilst his eyes were narrow slits of dark in a tight bandage of tissue.  […] .
    • 2013 July-August, Fenella Saunders, “Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture”, in American Scientist:
      The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail.
    Bright lights really hurt my eyes.
  2. The visual sense.
    The car was quite pleasing to the eye, but impractical.
  3. The iris of the eye, being of a specified colour.
    Brown, blue, green, hazel eyes.
  4. Attention, notice.
    That dress caught her eye.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 5, in The Celebrity:
      In the eyes of Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke the apotheosis of the Celebrity was complete. The people of Asquith were not only willing to attend the house-warming, but had been worked up to the pitch of eagerness. The Celebrity as a matter of course was master of ceremonies.
  5. The ability to notice what others might miss.
    He has an eye for talent.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 19, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.
  6. A meaningful stare or look.
    She was giving him the eye at the bar.
    When the car cut her off, she gave him the eye.
  7. A private eye: a privately hired detective or investigator.
  8. A hole at the blunt end of a needle through which thread is passed.
  9. A fitting consisting of a loop of metal or other material, suitable for receiving a hook or the passage of a cord or line.
  10. The relatively clear and calm center of a hurricane or other such storm.
  11. A mark on an animal, such as a peacock or butterfly, resembling a human eye.
  12. The dark spot on a black-eyed pea.
  13. A reproductive bud in a potato.
  14. (informal) The dark brown center of a black-eyed Susan flower.
  15. A loop forming part of anything, or a hole through anything, to receive a rope, hook, pin, shaft, etc. — e.g. at the end of a tie bar in a bridge truss; through a crank; at the end of a rope; or through a millstone.
  16. That which resembles the eye in relative importance or beauty.
  17. Tinge; shade of colour.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Boyle
      Red with an eye of blue makes a purple.
  18. One of the holes in certain kinds of cheese.
  19. (architecture) The circle in the centre of a volute.
  20. (typography) The enclosed counter (negative space) of the small letter e.
  21. (game of Go) An empty point or group of points surrounded by one player's stones.
SynonymsEdit
HyponymsEdit
  • (organ that is sensitive to light, by which means animals see): ocellus
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit

VerbEdit

eye (third-person singular simple present eyes, present participle eyeing or eying, simple past and past participle eyed)

  1. (transitive) To observe carefully or appraisingly.
    After eyeing the document for half an hour, she decided not to sign it.
    They went out and eyed the new car one last time before deciding.
    • 1859, Fraser's Magazine (volume 60, page 671)
      Each downcast monk in silence takes / His place a newmade grave around, / Each one his brother sadly eying.
  2. (intransitive, obsolete) To appear; to look.
    • Shakespeare
      My becomings kill me, when they do not eye well to you.
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit


The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

Etymology 2Edit

Probably from a nye changing to an eye.

NounEdit

eye (plural eyes)

  1. A brood.
    an eye of pheasants

AnagramsEdit

Middle EnglishEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From Old English eġe, from Proto-Germanic *agaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂égʰos. Doublet of awe.

Alternative formsEdit

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

eye (uncountable)

  1. awe, reverence, worshipfulness
  2. horror, panic
  3. That which creates reverence; the exercise of power
  4. That which incites awe
  5. That which incites terror
Related termsEdit
DescendantsEdit
  • English: ey (obsolete)
ReferencesEdit

Etymology 2Edit

From Old English ēaġe.

NounEdit

eye

  1. Alternative form of eie

TatarEdit

AdverbEdit

eye

  1. very, of course, emphatic adverb

Tocharian BEdit

NounEdit

eye

  1. sheep

UmbunduEdit

PronounEdit

eye

  1. (third-person singular pronoun)

See alsoEdit

Umbundu personal pronouns
singular plural
first-person ame etu
second-person ove ene
third-person eye ovo
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=eye&oldid=54096658"