Emily Dickinson Lexicon

EYE, n. [pronounced as I. Sax. eag, eah; Goth. auga; D. oog; G, auge; Sw. öga; Dan. öye; Russ. oko; Sans. akshi; L. oculus, a diminutive, whence Fr. œil, Sp. ojo, It. occhio, Port. olho. The original word must have been ag, eg, or hag or heg, coinciding with egg. The old English plural was eyen or eyne.]

1. The organ of sight or vision; properly, the globe or ball movable in the orbit. The eye is nearly of a spherical figure, and composed of coats or tunics. But in the term eye, we often or usually include the ball and the parts adjacent.
2. Sight; view; ocular knowledge; as, I have a man now in my eye. In this sense, the plural is more generally used. Before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you. Gal. iii.
3. Look; countenance. I'll say yon gray is not the morning's eye. Shak.
4. Front; face. Her shall you hear disproved to your eyes. Shak.
5. Direct opposition; as, to sail in the wind's eye.
6. Aspect; regard; respect; view. Booksellers mention with respect the authors they have printed, and consequently have an eye to their own advantage. Addison.
7. Notice; observation; vigilance; watch. After this jealousy, he kept a strict eye upon him. L'Estrange.
8. View of the mind; opinion formed by observation or contemplation. It hath in their eye, no great affinity with the form of the church of Rome. Hooker.
9. Sight; view, either in a literal or figurative sense.
10. Something resembling the eye in form; as, the eye of a peacock's feather. Newton.
11. A small hole or aperture; a perforation; as, the eye of a needle.
12. A small catch for a hook; as we say, hooks and eyes. In nearly the same sense, the word is applied to certain fastenings in the cordage of ships.
13. The bud of a plant; a shoot. Encyc.
14. A small shade of color. [Little used.] Red, with an eye of blue, makes a purple. Boyle.
15. The power of perception. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened. Eph. i.
16. Oversight; inspection. The eye of the master will do more work than both his hands. Franklin. The eyes of a ship, are the parts which lie near the hawseholes, particularly in the lower apartments. Mar. Dict. To set the eyes on, is to see; to have a sight of. To find favor in the eyes, is to be graciously received and treated.