A Window Is a Wind-Eye
A window is an opening in a wall. The Norse word means wind-eye, and it replaced an Old English word that meant eye-hole.
A window is an opening in a wall to let in light and air. The word is one of the most vivid English took from Norse: *vindauga*, a wind-eye. Early windows had no glass, so the name described exactly what they did — an eye in the wall that the wind came through. Old English had its own word, *eagþyrl*, eye-hole, and lost it.
- An opening in a wall. *Open the window.*
- A period of opportunity. *A narrow window.*
- A screen area. *Close the window.*
- Window of opportunity — a limited chance. *A brief window of opportunity.*
- Window shopping — looking without buying. *An afternoon of window shopping.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | window | A sash window. |
| Plural | windows | Six windows. |
| Compound | windowsill | On the windowsill. |
| Norse | vindauga | Wind-eye. |
| Old English | eagþyrl | Eye-hole. |
- Rain came in through the open window.Literal.
- There is a two-hour window this afternoon.Time.
- Vindauga means wind-eye in Old Norse.Etymology.
Vivid Norse borrowings
- Window — wind-eye
- Ransack — from *rannsaka*, to search a house
- Berserk — from a warrior's bear-shirt
- Husband — from *husbondi*, a householder
- Law, sky, egg, knife, skin — all Norse, all everyday
Old Norse *vindauga*, from *vindr*, wind, and *auga*, eye. English adopted it around 1200, replacing the native *eagþyrl* and the borrowed *fenester*.
Why is it called a wind-eye?
Because early windows were unglazed openings. They let in light like an eye and let in wind at the same time.
What did English call a window before?
Eagþyrl, eye-hole, and later fenester, borrowed from Latin. Both were displaced by the Norse word.