The other day I came across the Dutch word oog [oːx], which means ‘spot; hole; period (of time); eye’ – I was looking for the equivalent of eye when I found it. Words like this with double o just appeal to me for some reason and I have to keep reminding myself that they the oo is not pronounced /uː/, as you might expect in English.
Other words in Dutch with double o include:
– ook = too, also, likewise, which always reminds me of how the librarian speaks in Terry Practhett’s Discworld stories (oook, eeek!)
– ooftboom = fruit tree
– ooi = ewe
– oom = uncle
– oor = handle; ear
– oord = place; spot
– oost = east
Eye-related words and expressions include:
– ogen = to look
– oogappel = eyeball (‘eye apple’)
– oogarts = ophtalmologist; oculist (‘eye doctor’)
– oog in oog = face to face (‘eye in eye’)
– in het oog krijgen = to perceive, to descry (‘to get in the eye’)
– in het oog springen = to catch the eye, to stand out (‘to spring/jump in the eye’)
– in het oog vallend = striking (‘falling in the eye’)
– met het oog op = considering (‘with the eye up/on’)
– uit het oog verliezen = to lose out of sight (‘to lose out of the eye’)
Source: bab.la Dictionary
In at least 4 cases the oo comes from Northwest Germanic ‘au’ corresponding to an English ‘ea’ or German ‘au’:
oog corresponds to German Auge
ook corresponds to English ‘eak (out)’, German ‘auch’
oost corrsponds to English ‘east’
oor corresponds to English ‘ear’
“ook corresponds to English ‘eak (out)’, German ‘auch’”
Eke is the correct spelling here – but yes, part of the same pattern.
Eke is also the derivation of nickname (originally an ekename = ‘an also-name’).
Ook, auch and eke also appear to correspond to och and og, used for and in the Scandinavian languages.
Could there even be a connection with ag/ac and agus in Welsh and Irish?
Wiktionary suggests that the Old Irish ocus derives from *onktus meaning “near”, so it doesn’t seem related. The Scandinavian ones definitely are, though.
Correction: *onkus-tus < *onkus .
Also: Een oogje op iemand hebben “to have a little eye on someone” = to fancy someone; oog om oog, tand om tand = an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; een oogwenk = a blink of an eye; op je bolle ogen “on your bulbous eyes” (informal) = forget it; een blauw oog “a blue eye” = a black eye; vetogen “oil eyes”> = little droplets of oil floating on top of your soup; oogschaduw = eye shadow; beogen = to aim (to do sth); een lui oog = a lazy eye; ogen zo groot als schoteltjes “eyes as wide as saucers”.
Additionally, oog can also mean “(small) island, eyot” in names such as in Schiermonnikoog “grey monk island”, Kallandsoog, etc.