œil

Alternative forms

• oeil (nonstandard)

Etymology

From Middle French œil, from Old French oil, uel, ueil (plural olz, ialz), from Vulgar Latin oclus, from Latin oculus, from Proto-Italic *okʷelos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃okʷ-, *h₃ekʷ- (“eye; to see”). Doublet of oculus, a borrowing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /œj/

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• Audio (FR)

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Noun

œil m (plural yeux or œils)

1. (anatomy, plural yeux) eye, organ that is sensitive to light, helping organisms to see
2. (plural œils) glyph, rendering of a single character
3. (plural œils) eye (of a needle)

Further reading

• “œil” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Alternative forms

• oeil

Etymology

From Old French ueil.

Noun

œil m (plural yeulx)

1. (anatomy) eye