eyelid

B2 Topic:The Human Body

US /ˈaɪ.lɪd/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like irid /l/ vs /r/

Freq #28246

Meanings

1

noun
The piece of skin that moves down to cover and open the eye.

He closed his eyelids and tried to fall asleep.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the piece of skin that... lid

Word family

Forms eyelids

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

third eyelid
an additional protective fold that can move across the eye in some animals

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Eyelid is recorded from Middle English and contains lid in its original sense “cover.” Lid is inherited from Old English hlid and is of Germanic origin.

Etymology

From Middle English eyelidd, eye-led, eiȝelid, eghe-lydd, yȝe-lydd, ehlid, yhelidd, from an unrecorded Old English *ēaghlid (“eyelid”), from Proto-West Germanic *augahlid (“eyelid”), equivalent to eye + lid. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Oogenlid (“eyelid”), West Frisian eachlid (“eyelid”), Dutch ooglid (“eyelid”), German Low German Ooglidd (“eyelid”), German Augenlid (“eyelid”). Generally superseded non-native Middle English palpebre (“eyelid”), borrowed from Latin palpebra (“eyelid”) (see Modern English palpebra).

*ḱley- Proto-Indo-European eyelidd Middle English *ēaghlid Old English *augahlid Proto-West Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

The Human Body

External links

# eyelid

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈaɪ.lɪd/
**Frequency rank:** 28246

## Meanings
1. The piece of skin that moves down to cover and open the eye.

## Examples
- He closed his eyelids and tried to fall asleep.

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *ḱley-
- Root: eyelidd
- Root: *ēaghlid
- Root: *augahlid

## Etymology
From Middle English eyelidd, eye-led, eiȝelid, eghe-lydd, yȝe-lydd, ehlid, yhelidd, from an unrecorded Old English *ēaghlid (“eyelid”), from Proto-West Germanic *augahlid (“eyelid”), equivalent to eye + lid. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Oogenlid (“eyelid”), West Frisian eachlid (“eyelid”), Dutch ooglid (“eyelid”), German Low German Ooglidd (“eyelid”), German Augenlid (“eyelid”). Generally superseded non-native Middle English palpebre (“eyelid”), borrowed from Latin palpebra (“eyelid”) (see Modern English palpebra).

## AI Etymology
Eyelid comes from Middle English eyelidd, eye-led, eiȝelid, eghe-lydd, yȝe-lydd, ehlid, yhelidd, from an unrecorded Old English *ēaghlid (“eyelid”), from Proto-West Germanic *augahlid (“eyelid”), equivalent to eye + lid. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Oogenlid (“eyelid”), West Frisian eachlid (“eyelid”), Dutch ooglid (“eyelid”), German Low German Ooglidd (“eyelid”), German Augenlid (“eyelid”). Generally superseded non-native Middle English palpebre (“eyelid”), borrowed from Latin palpebra (“eyelid”) (see Modern English palpebra). In current use, the main sense is “The piece of skin that moves down to cover and open the eye”.

## Topics
- The Human Body

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