cil (French)
Where does "cil" come from?
French cil “eyelash” is inherited from Old French cil, which in turn comes from Latin cilium, a word meaning “eyelid.” The sense shifted from the eyelid itself to the hair along its edge, giving modern French its current meaning. Farther back, Latin cilium is traced to Proto-Italic *keljom and ultimately to Proto-Indo-European *ḱel-, meaning “to cover.”
Full etymology tree
- cil (French), 'eyelash'
- inherited from cil (Old French), 'alternative form of cel'
- inherited from cilium (Latin), 'eyelid'
- inherited from *keljom (Proto-Italic)
- inherited from *ḱel-yo-m (Proto-Indo-European)
- derived from *ḱel- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to cover'
- inherited from *ḱel-yo-m (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited from *keljom (Proto-Italic)
- inherited from cilium (Latin), 'eyelid'
- inherited from cil (Old French), 'alternative form of cel'
Ancestors
- cil (Old French)
- cilium (Latin)
Updated March 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris