Apple of your eye
Suggest a CorrectionMeaning
A person or thing that is especially loved, prized, and protected above others. Warm and usually personal. It can refer to a prized object or project as well as a person. Regional use: Old English in origin; now widespread across English varieties.
Origin
The image is older than its modern affectionate sense. In Old English, the apple of the eye was the eye's central pupil: an Old English version of Gregory's Pastoral Care associated with King Alfred's programme uses the expression in that anatomical sense in about 885. Biblical translations also used the eye's apple for something guarded with exceptional care. The familiar meaning, a cherished person or possession, developed from those literal and protective uses; the medieval evidence should not be read as already carrying every nuance of the modern idiom.
Research Sources
Variants
- The apple of my eye
Usage Examples
- Her youngest grandson is the apple of her eye.
- That battered guitar remains the apple of his eye despite its modest value.
- The restored reading room is the apple of the curator's eye.