ophthalmo-

combining form

: eye

ophthalmology

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Greek, combining form from ophthalmós "eye," of uncertain origin

Note: The word ophthalmós (in dialects also óktallos, óptil(l)os) has traditionally been placed with other progeny of Indo-European *h₃ek^w- in Greek, as ópōpa "(I) saw," ópsomai "(I) will see," ómma "eye," etc. (see eye entry 1), though both the phonetic shape and derivational structure are problematic; appeals have thus been made to "une aspiration expressive" to account for -phth-, or to taboo deformation (presumably as a means of averting the evil eye). R. Beekes (Etymological Dictionary of Greek) derives the range of forms from a pre-Greek *ok^w-tal^y-(m)-, and regards the similarity of *ok^w- and outcomes of Indo-European *h₃ekw- as coincidental.