Masculine
yeux
Meaning
plural of œil, eyes
Frequency
Pronounced as (IPA)
/jø/
Etymology
From Middle French yeulx, yeux, from Old French ieuz ~ ialz, plural form of oeil ~ oil ~ ueil ~ uel. A regular outcome of Latin oculōs, the accusative plural of oculus (the source of œil). Mildred Pope explains its phonetic development as becoming *[ˈɔːʎos] > *[ˈweʎts] > *[weuts] via regular sound changes, followed by a regular dissimilation of [weu] to [jeu] (see for example Latin locus > *[lweu] > Old French lieu, iocus > *[dʒweu] > Old French gieu > jeu). The resulting [jeuts] then becomes modern [jø]. Old and Middle French present many variant forms of this plural, including, from Godefroy's Dictionnaire du Moyen Français: ialz/yalz, yolz, olz/ols, uelz/uels/eus, ils, oulz.
œil
- (masculine) eye, organ that is sensitive to light, helping organisms to see
- (masculine) glyph, rendering of a single character
- (masculine) eye (of a needle)
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Notes
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Sentences
Les larmes montaient aux yeux de l'enfant.
Tears rose to the child's eyes.