öga

From Old Swedish ø̄gha, from Old Norse auga, from Proto-Germanic *augô, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- (“eye; to see”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈøːˌɡa/

• Audio:

  (file)

öga n

1. (anatomy) eye
   • 1982, Ratata, “Ögon av is [Eyes of ice]”, in Ratata‎^[1]:

     Ja, hennes ögon är av is. Dom säger allt och ingenting. Ja, hon har ögon av is.

     Yes, her eyes are made of ice. They say everything and nothing. Yes, she has eyes of ice.

   • 1992, Benny Astor, Figge Boström, “Gunga [Swing]”‎^[2]performed by Apopocalyps:

     Du är så söt, så oskuldsfull. Försöker stå men du ramlar omkull. Jag rycker till [expresses suddenness], du fnittrar glatt. Med stora ögon brister du ut i ett skratt, i ett skratt.

     You are so cute, so innocent. Try to stand but you fall over. I flinch, you giggle happily. With wide eyes you break out into a laugh, into a laugh.

   1. eyeball (see the usage notes below)

      Synonym: ögonglob

2. eye (a hole at the blunt end of a needle)
3. eye (the center of a hurricane)
4. eye (a reproductive bud in a potato)
5. eye (the capability of perception)

   Han har ett öga för talanger.

   He has a good eye for talents.

• Compounds are formed with the plural ögon.
• Swedish idiomatically prefers öga (“eye”) to ögonglob (“eyeball”) in everyday language. Ögonglob sounds more anatomical.
• Swedish uses "stora ögon [big eyes]" for "wide eyes" (wide-open eyes). "Breda / vida ögon [wide eyes]" sounds like eyes that are horizontally wide. See also spärra upp and vidöppen.

• In informal usage, the definite plural may also take the form ögona, ögonas.

• → Finnish: ööga

• öga in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• öga in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• öga in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
• Svensk MeSH