augā (Proto-West Germanic)

Where does "augā" come from?

The Proto-West Germanic noun 'augā', meaning 'eye', descends from Proto-Germanic '*augô'[1]. This Germanic form ultimately derives from an n-suffixed form of Proto-Indo-European '*h₃ekʷ-', meaning 'eye; to see'[2].

Open questions

• The Proto-Germanic form '*augô' may have featured the diphthong '-au-' through analogical introduction from '*auzô', meaning 'ear', or via metathesis from earlier '*agwô'. [2]
• The voicing present due to Verner law points to an originally accented suffix, which may have been introduced from oblique forms or formed analogically with agent nouns. [2]

Full etymology tree

• *augā (Proto-West Germanic), 'eye'
  • inherited *augô (Proto-Germanic), 'eye'
    • derived *h₃ekʷ- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to see'

Ancestors

• *augô (Proto-Germanic)

Descendants and derived words

• ouga (Old High German)
• *augahlid (Proto-West Germanic)

Sources

1. augā (Proto-West Germanic) - Wiktionary
2. augô (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
3. -ô (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
4. slagô (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
5. tugô (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris