Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

eye

/ˈɑɪ̯/

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: 5.02 in modern English

Syllables
eye
IPA
/ˈɑɪ̯/
6
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
2
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

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

noun

The visual sense.

noun

The iris of the eye, being of a specified colour.

noun

Attention, notice.

noun

The ability to notice what others might miss.

noun

A meaningful look or stare.

noun

A meaningful look or stare.

noun

A meaningful look or stare.

Example Sentences

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ-der. Proto-Germanic *augô Proto-West Germanic *augā Old English ēage Middle English eye English eye 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. Cognates 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”). 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”). The archaic plural form eyen is from Middle English eyen, from Old English ēaġan, nominative and accusative plural of ēaġe (“eye”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: *h₃ekʷ-, e, ēage, *augā, *augô, eyen

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈɑɪ̯/

Usage

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in Law, Medicine.

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Phrases

Frequently Paired Words

Synonyms

Homonyms

Rhymes With

Questions

How do you pronounce eye?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɑɪ̯/.
What does eye mean?
An organ through which animals see (“perceive surroundings via light”).
Where does eye come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce eye

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “eye”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈɑɪ̯/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “eye”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “eye” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.