eyelid
noun/ˈaɪ.lɪd/
Etymology From Middle English eyelidd, eye-led, eiȝelid, eghe-lydd, yȝe-lydd, ehlid, yhelidd, from an unrecorded Old English *ēaghlid (“eyelid”), from Proto-West Germanic *augahlid (“eyelid”), equivalent to eye + lid. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Oogenlid (“eyelid”), West Frisian eachlid (“eyelid”), Dutch ooglid (“eyelid”), German Low German Ooglidd (“eyelid”), German Augenlid (“eyelid”). Generally superseded non-native Middle English palpebre (“eyelid”), borrowed from Latin palpebra (“eyelid”) (see Modern English palpebra).
1
A thin skin membrane that covers and moves over an eye.
- By his neeſings a light doth ſhine, and his eyes are like the eye-liddes of the morning.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 41:18, column 2:
- […] the frightened or insane eyes of an animal, sometimes with eyelids closed in escapeful slumber.2000, Joshua P. Warren, The Evil in Asheville, page 246:
1 more example
- Allergan, the company that turned an obscure muscle paralyzer for eyelid spasms, Botox, into a blockbuster wrinkle smoother, hopes to perform cosmetic alchemy yet again.2009 January 14, Natasha Singer, “Love the Eyelashes. Who Is Your Doctor?”, in The New York Times:
- Derived terms
- bat an eyelid, double eyelid, eyelidded, eyelidless, floppy eyelid syndrome, hang by the eyelids, monolid, single eyelid, without blinking an eyelid
- Related terms
- eyebrow, eyelash, nictitating membrane