Where does “eyeball” come from?
I notice the chain provided appears to contain repetitions and doesn't form a coherent etymological path for "eyeball." The chain lists "English billion," "English black," and "Ancient Greek βάλλω" in a unclear sequence. To write an accurate etymology sentence, I would need a clear, linear chain showing how "eyeball" developed through languages in chronological order (oldest to newest). Could you provide the correct etymological chain for "eyeball"? It should trace back through actual source languages with the word forms that led to the modern English term.
eyeball (English): the ball of the eye; a meeting; as a synecdoche,...
Definitions
- the ball of the eye; a meeting; as a synecdoche,...
Ancestry of “eyeball”, step by step
eyeball traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Ball
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Ball | surname |
| 2 | Middle English | bal | A ball; A rounded or spherical lump or bump,... |
| 3 | Old English | beall | ball |
| 4 | English | beal | A small inflammatory tumor; pustule; To gather... |
| 5 | Old English | hyll | hill |
| 6 | Albanian | hulli | furrow |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | hulliz | hill |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | kl̥Hnís | hill |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | kelH- | to rise, to be tall; hill |
via English Eye
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Eye | A place name |
| 2 | English | -some | Characterized by some specific condition or... |
| 3 | Middle English | -som | some; having a specific quality |
| 4 | Old English | sum | some |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | *sum | some |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | sumaz | some (one), a certain (one) |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | sem- | together, one |