Middle English Dictionary Entry

eie n.(1)
Quotations: Show all Hide all

Entry Info

Forms eie n.(1) Also eigh(e, egh(e, ehe, ei; igh(e, ihe, ie; ee, e; a nei, a nie, a ne. Plural: eien, eighen, heiȝin, eithen, egthen, ein, ei(gh)nen; īen, īn, īnen; ēen, ēn, ēnen; (late) eies, īes, eines.
Etymology OE ēage, pl. ēagan; A ēge.

Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)

1a.
(a) The organ of vision, the eye; (b) bodili (erthli, fleshes, fleshli, outer) ~.
Show 43 Quotations
1b.
(a) two or twei(n eien, both (one's) eien, both..eien two; (b) right (swither) ~, the right eye.
Show 22 Quotations
1c.
In phrases: blak eien, dark or brown eyes; brod eien, wide-open eyes; grei eien, blue, gray, or green eyes; eien grei as glas (as gos, as falcon; grete (stepe) eien, large, glaring or protruding eyes; yelwe eien, bright-colored eyes; ?reddish eyes (of an albino).
Show 28 Quotations
1d.
In phrases blind eien, open eien, slepen with open eien, rolling eien, rollen, relen eien, weping eien, wepen with (mid) eien, wepen out the eien.
Show 21 Quotations
1e.
Of the eyes as expressing or arousing some emotion or state of mind: (a) eie of hope, eien of milse, blitheful ~, laughing with ~ on ~, likerous ~, merciable eien, etc.; (b) covetise (love, lust) of eien, lust of the eyes, concupiscentia oculorum.
Show 22 Quotations
1f.
Physiol., med., and anat. In phrases and collocations: (a) appel of the ~, the pupil; also, the cornea; alsofig. something valued highly; ~ appel, ball of the ~, the eyeball; blak (middel, point, sight) of the ~, the pupil; cercle (roundel) of the ~, the iris; corner of the ~, the corner of the eye where the two lids meet, the canthus; ~ stern, film (stern) of the ~, the cornea; humours of the ~, fluid portions of the eye; kirtle of the ~, one of the tunics or membranous sheaths of the eyeball; lid of the ~, the eyelid; whit of the ~, the visible part of the sclerotic coat of the eye, the white of the eye; (b) ~ renninge, running of the eyes, tears; blered (blodi, dropping, red, turned, watering) eien, rheumy (bloodshot, running, inflamed, strabismic, watering) eyes; aposteme of the ~, an inflammation of the conjunctiva; blerinesse (derknesse, dimnesse, yicching, lame, quittere, wem) of eien; pin in the ~ (eien), spot in the ~, stiche in the eien, web in the ~, etc.; (c) leche of eien, an eye-doctor ; (d) ~ toth, eye-tooth, canine (cuspidate tooth of a horse; = tush n.).
Show 52 Quotations
2.
(a) The sense of sight, capacity for looking or seeing, sight; (b)in proverbs: fer from ~, fer from herte, etc., out of sight, out of mind; (c) casten (leden, leien, loken, throwen, turnen, wenden, werpen) eien, to turn or cast one's eyes, to look; (d) drawen (heven, liften) up the eien, to raise the eyes, look up; (e) dressen (fasten, fichen, putten, setten) eien, fix the eyes (upon something), look steadily, gaze.
Show 60 Quotations
3.
(a) The eye as a means of observing, watching, or looking out for something; beren god eien, to be watchful or alert; feld hath eie(n, there are observers everywhere; setten in the tounes ~, to exhibit publicly; eien of advertence, the eyes of (ones) attention, consideration; (b) haven ~ on, to observe steadily, watch closely, examine; (c) haven ~ to, to be concerned with or about, give attention to, have regard for (sb., sth., etc.)
Show 21 Quotations
4.
(a) The power of insight, understanding, or foresight; (b) brestes ~, the heart; godcundnesses ~, divine understanding; gostli eie(n, hertes ~, soules ~, etc., spiritual insight or sensitivity; reason; ~ of intelligence (thought), eie(n of the mind, intellectual insight or awareness, reason; beforen the mindes ~, in imagination, in the mind's eye; ~ of discrecioun, understanding, judgment; (c) bleren the ~, to hoodwink, deceive, make a fool of.
Show 41 Quotations
5a.
An orifice or perforation, as the eye of a needle, the hole in a millstone, a hole in cheese; ~ of the yerd, outer opening of the male urethra; nether ~, the anus; stone with eien, a spongy or porous stone.
Show 12 Quotations
5b.
(a) One of the colorful eye-like spots on a male peacock's tail; (b) Poet. ~ of dai, (heven, the world), daies ~, the sun; (c) eie of ~, daies-ie, q.v. the daisy.
Show 6 Quotations
5c.
(a) A bud, shoot, or cutting of a plant; (b) physiol. ei~ of the kne, kneecap; eien of the shulder- blades, hollows in the scapula; (c) math. a sighting point (either a hole or a peg) of a quadrat (or quadrant) used for measuring heights and distances.
Show 6 Quotations
6a.
Prepositional phrases: (a) at ~, clearly, openly, manifestly; (b) sen at ~, to see with one's own eyes, see plainly or unmistakably; (c) at (in, on, til, to) the ~, to the eye, in appearance, outwardly; fair at ~, outwardly pleasing.
Show 32 Quotations
6b.
(a) beforen (aforen) the eien, in front of, or covering, the eyes; (b) beforen (aforen, toforen, agein, til) the eien, before one's eyes, in one's presence; fig. in mind, in one's mind.
Show 18 Quotations
6c.
In phrases in (beforen, to) the eien, in one's eyes, in one's opinion or judgment.
Show 13 Quotations
6d.
In phrases: (a) seen (beholden, finden) with (mid) eien, to see with one's own eyes; to see (for oneself); to lay eyes upon; (b) with eie, by sight, without measuring.
Show 26 Quotations
7a.
In oaths and asseverations: bi min ~; bi godes eien; devel in your ~, confound you; put out min ~; so mote I brouken min eien twein, as I hope to enjoy my eyesight.
Show 6 Quotations
7b.
Proverbs: (a) (an) ~ for (an) ~, etc.; (b) chippes..in the ~; (c) ever is the ~ to the wode-leie, the thoughts are always of furtive or illicit pleasures; (d) sen a mot (bem, etc.) in the ~.
Show 15 Quotations
7c.
Misc. figures and idioms: (a) bi the ~, unlimited, without stint; fillen bi the ~, to fill to the brim; (b) ~ of the Church, the clergy; (c) ~ to ~, face to face; (d) feden the eien, to feast the eyes; (e) greven (troublen) the eien, to grieve, offend, or trouble someone; (f) lepen after the eien, to pursue something of pleasing appearance; (g) maugre eien, for min eien, in spite of everything, in spite of all one's efforts to the contrary; (h) opnen the eien, to restore sight; to enlighten the mind or heart; (i) putten finger in ~; (j) shot of eien, affectionate look or glance; slaien with eien, etc.; (k) turning (twinkeling) of an ~, an instant; (l) up on your ~, in mind.
Show 42 Quotations

Supplemental Materials (draft)

  • ?c1400(1379) Daniel *Treat.Uroscopy (Roy 17.D.1)f.49va (2.6) : Þe erþe is þe centre, i. the mydpoynt, of al þe world. For in regarde of þe firmament, it is but as the leste poynt or the leste þing þat bodyli eyhe may se.
    • Note: New spelling: eyhe.
  • ?c1400(1379) Daniel *Treat.Uroscopy (Roy 17.D.1)f.54ra (2.7) : Som saide þat þe forsaide vryn was ȝelow, as it semede wel at eye..som saide þat it was noȝt ȝelow vryn propurly, for vryn propurly ȝelow is euermore thenne & clere or elles þennysshe & clerisshe.
    • Note: ?New sense. Editor's gloss: at ~ 'from experience'.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

  • (a1475) Recipe Painting(2) in Clarke Crafte Lymmyng (Sln 73) 202/27 : Sette it on a fewe coolis, and alwey have þin yȝe into þe pott, and styre it oþerwhile.
    • Note: Postdates sense 3.(c).
  • a1500 Sln.3548 Artist.Recipes (Sln 3548) 309/15 : Vernysch yt aboue and lat yt dry, and yt shal seme gold to a mannes eghe.
    • Note: Additional quot., prob. sense 6c.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

  • (c1410) York MGame (Vsp B.12)58 : A rennynge hounde..shulde have greet nosethrelles, and open and longe snowte but not smale, and greet lippis and hangyng adoun, grete jeu [read: jen][F yeulx gros]..rede or blak.
    • Note: New form: Also..(error) jeu.
    Note: Quot. belongs to sense 1a.(a).
Note: Check the bold-faced phrases in all of the senses for this entry against all of their quots. to make sure that they are accurate and complete.
Note: The list of variant spellings in the form section is incomplete and needs revision to accord with standards of later volumes of the MED.--notes per MLL

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc., see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. eye.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 1g.(a)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. sight of the eye.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 5c.(b)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. eye of the knee.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 5c.(b)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. eye of the shoulder blade.

©2025 Regents of the University of Michigan. For details about this collection's copyright see the MEC copyright statement and the U-M Library Copyright Policy. Data last refreshed Tuesday, March 4, 2025 at 12:18:00.