Etymograph

English

ocellus

Ocellus comes from Latin ocellus ‘little eye’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- ‘to see’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ekʷ-1‘to see’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*okʷ(e)los1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoculus2‘eye’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEocellus2‘little eye’
  5. Englishtodayocellus2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin oculus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English ocellus

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ekʷ-Wiktionary, Latin oculus‘to see’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*okʷ(e)losWiktionary, Latin oculusreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoculusWiktionary, English ocellus‘eye’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEocellusWiktionary, English ocellus‘little eye’
  5. EnglishtodayocellusWiktionary, English ocellus

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- ‘to see’

eye, anthropology, optics, ogle, synoptic, awk, anthropoid, 37 more

through Latin oculus ‘eye’

ocular, oculus, inoculation, monocle, doily, inoculate, 15 more

Today it means

noun A simple eye consisting of a single lens and a small number of sensory cells.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ocellus”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin oculus. 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- / ocellus

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