Etymograph

English

eye

Eye comes from Old English ēage, from Proto-Germanic *augô ‘eye’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- ‘eye; to see’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ekʷ-1‘eye’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*augô1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*augā1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ēage1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500e1
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596eye1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English eye
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame. […] (First Quarto): “To vvhat, my loue, ſhall I compare thine eyne?…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ekʷ-Wiktionary, English eye‘eye’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*augôWiktionary, English eyereconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*augāWiktionary, English eyereconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ēageWiktionary, English eye
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500eWiktionary, English eye
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596eyeWiktionary, English eye. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame. […] (First Quarto): “To vvhat, my loue, ſhall I compare thine eyne?…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with eye, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ-

  • anthropology ← anthropologia ← ἄνθρωπος ← ὤψ ← *ókʷs
  • optics ← opticus ← ὀπτικός ← ὄψις ← ὄψ
  • oculus ← *okʷ(e)los
  • ocular ← oculāris ← oculus ← *okʷ(e)los
  • inoculation ← inoculātio ← inoculō ← oculus ← *okʷ(e)los
  • monocle ← monoculus ← oculus ← *okʷ(e)los
  • synoptic ← synopticus ← συνοπτικός ← σύνοψις ← ὄψις
  • awk ← awke ← ǫfugr ← *abuhaz ← *h₂époh₃kʷos
  • inoculate ← inoculaten ← inoculātus ← inoculō ← oculus
  • anthropoid ← ἀνθρωποειδής ← ἄνθρωπος ← ὤψ ← *ókʷs
  • doily ← ueil ← oclus ← oculus ← *okʷ(e)los

through Proto-Germanic *augô

  • ogle ← ögeln ← ö̂gelen ← ö̂gen ← ōgian

40 more relatives in the full family tree

No ads, ever.

Become a founding member, $29 onceI have a code

Explore everything descended from *h₃ekʷ- →

No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.

Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app

Today it means

noun An organ through which animals see (“perceive surroundings via light”).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “eye”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- / eye