apple of someone's eye

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• Received-Pronunciation: /ˌæpl̩‿əv sʌmwʌnz ˈaɪ/
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• General-American: /ˌæp(ə)l‿əv sʌmwʌnz ˈaɪ/
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• Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• rhymes with -aɪ
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PIE word *h2ébōl From Middle English appel of the eie (“pupil of the eye; cornea; (figurative) something highly valued”), from Old English æppel on the ēagan, used in biblical texts (Deuteronomy 32:10, Psalm 17:8; Proverbs 7:2, Lamentations 2:18, and Zechariah 2:8; compare the quotations) to designate the pupil of the eye as something precious to be protected. The use of "apple" in English is apparently due to the pupil or cornea being thought of as a solid, globular object.

36 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Afrikaans: oogappeltjie — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Afrikaans: oogappel — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Arabic: قُرَّةُ عَيْن (qurratu ʕayn) — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Azerbaijani: gözün ağı-qarası — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Azerbaijani: bəbək — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Azerbaijani: göz bəbəyi — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Catalan: la nina dels ulls ft — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Chinese Mandarin: 心肝寶貝 /心肝宝贝 (xīngān bǎobèi) — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Danish: øjesten — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Dutch: oogappel — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Esperanto: pupilo de sia okulo — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Finnish: silmäterä — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• French: prunelle de ses yeux — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• German: Augapfel — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Greek: κόρη οφθαλμού (kóri ofthalmoú) — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Hebrew: בָּבַת עַיִן (bavát 'áyin) — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Hindi: आँख का तारा (ā̃kh kā tārā) — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Hungarian: szeme fénye — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Japanese: 目に入れても痛くないもの (me ni iretemo itakunai mono) — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Navajo: ayóó ábídóóʼní — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Norwegian Bokmål: øyensten — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Norwegian Bokmål: ens øyensten — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Norwegian Bokmål: noens øyensten — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Polish: oczko w głowie — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Portuguese: menina dos olhos — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Romanian: lumina ochilor — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Russian: свет оче́й (svet očéj) — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Russian: зени́ца о́ка (zeníca óka) — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Scottish Gaelic: dearc na sùla — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Serbo-Croatian: zjenica oka — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Spanish: el ojito derecho de alguien — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Spanish: la niña de sus ojos — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Swedish: ögonsten — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Tamil: கண்மணி (kaṇmaṇi) — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Turkish: gözbebeği — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers
• Ukrainian: світло моїх очей (svitlo mojix očej) — object of somebody’s affections; person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers