Ophthalmic
/ˌɒf.θælˈmɪk/noun
Relating to the eye or vision.
Did you know?Ophthalmic comes from Greek ophthalmós, and that same ancient eye-root also gave English the medical term ophthalmology, keeping a 2,000-year-old word for the eye alive in science.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*okw-
“to see, look at”
Ancient Greek
Greek
ophthalmos (ὀφθαλμός)
“eye”
Late Greek
Greek
ophthalmikos (ὀφθαλμικός)
“of the eye, ocular”
14th–16th Century
Latin
ophthalmicus
“relating to the eye”
Modern English
English
ophthalmic
“relating to the eye or vision”
Explore more surprising origins