Apple in the eye meaning

Apple of My Eye: What Is the Meaning of “Apple of One’s Eye?

Apple of my eye. What does the term “apple of one’s eye” mean?

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Apple of My Eye

Meaning of “Apple of My Eye”

“Apple of my eye” is an idiom because the meaning of this phrase does not involve apples within people’s eyes. Thus, such meanings do not involve the actual meanings of the words within the phrase.

This phrase means a person treasures one thing over another; being very fond of someone or something.

If someone is the apple of your eye, you think he/she is very important to you, and you love him/her very much. This idiom is used especially when someone is loved by an older member of his/her family.

For example:

• He loved his son, but his daughter was the apple of his eye.
• I had two grown daughters, and when I lost the first one, this one became the apple of my eye.
• Erika is Mark’s only granddaughter, and she’s the apple of his eye.
• Sarah’s only son was the apple of her eye.
• I can’t wait to see his wife tomorrow. She is the apple of my eye!
• John was his first child and the apple of his eye.
• Among the siblings, she is the apple of her father’s eye because she is the prettiest and the smartest.
• Jenny has the biggest budget for anybody in our company. She’s clearly the apple of our president’s eye.
• Susan has five sons. She loves them all dearly, but her youngest is the apple of her eye.

“Apple of My Eye” Synonyms

• Cherish
• Treasure
• Hold dear
• Light of my eyes
• Sweetheart
• Sweetie
• Favorite
• Loved
• Favorite

Common Idioms about Fruits

• Peachesandcream: A situation that has no trouble or problems
• Coolas acucumber: Calm even in difficult or frustrating situations
• Aplumjob: An easy, pleasant job that also pays well
• Asredas acherry: Very red
• A bite at the cherry: An opportunity to achieve something
• Togobananas: To go crazy
• The cherry on the cake: The final thing that makes something perfect
• Second banana: A person in a subservient position
• Gopear-shaped: To fail; to go wrong
• Full of beans: It means to be full of energy and excitement.
• To have a pea brain: It means to be unintelligent or stupid
• Two peas in a pod: It means to be exactly the same as someone else. Normally exhibiting the same personality traits.
• Bad apple: It means to be a bad person.
• Banana republic: It means to be a weak or corrupt country.
• A bowl of cherries: It means life is easy and beautiful.
• Carrot top: A person with red or orange hair

Popular English Idioms about Fruits

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apple of eye

apple of eye

Meaning

• the person of whom one is extremely fond, favorite, loving
• most favourite person
• someone most cherished, above others
• someone or something that is very precious

Example Sentences

1. She has three children, but her youngest son is the apple of her eye.
2. While my grandmother loved all of us very much, my younger brother was the apple of her eye.
3. Poor Richard was to me as an eldest son, the apple of my eye.
4. She was a very charming little girl and a very bright student, and was the apple of her teachers’ eyes.
5. He loved his daughter very much. She was the apple of his eye.
6. He said that Kelly was the apple of his eye. He could not imagine living without her.
7. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
8. The young couple had a beautiful little son, and he was the apple of their eyes.
9. He was the apple of her eye, and she promised to take care of him for as long as she could.
10. My granddaughter is the apple of my eye, said the old man, lovingly looking at her playing in the distance.

Origin

The phrase originally had anatomical reference and was used to denote the central aperture of the eye. The expression first appeared in Old English in 885 AD, in a work attributed to King Aelfred (the Great) of Wessex, titled Gregory’s Pastoral Care. It was later used by Shakespeare in 1600 in his play A Midsummer Night’s Dream and also appeared in English translations of the Bible in 1611. However, the phrase was more commonly used after it appeared in Sir Walter Scott’s novel Old Mortality in 1816.

15 Thoughts

Really appreciate the person for saying this is straight from the Bible.
Because original is original.

— Anonymous May 25, 2021

There is nothing about an apple in Psalm 17. “The apple of my eye,” is not mentioned there or in the Bible in the original language, Hebrew, anywhere. The KJV of 1611 uses the “apple” to indicate the pupil of the eye. The original Hebrew uses the term “ishon” which means pupil or center of the eye. The KJV makes a good choice; in fact, I rather cherish being the apple of God’s eye. In both languages there is a beautiful picture of God protecting us as we would protect the very center of our eye. (Glenn Beall).

— Anonymous March 6, 2020

The 885 AD writing was in Old English.
The Old Testament is in Hebrew. Not English.
In the Old Testament Hebrew the term is
“the pupil of the eye ” not the apple of the eye.
To translate the same Hebrew word meaning into
English meaning the King James translators in 1611 used
the phrase “the apple of the eye” to convey the concept of “the center of attention e.g. that which
is most precious”.

— Kieth August 19, 2019

I think this term was used in the Bible before the date you listed:
“For thus saith the Lord of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth 👉the apple of his eye.”👈
Zechariah 2:8 KJV

— Clyde Braswell March 29, 2019

You say this phrase first appeared in 881AD. Not so. This is straight from the Bible. The term was used by King David in describing God’s attitude towards him. Look up Psalm 17 and verse 8. This was written in David’s lifetime, somewhere around 1010 to 970 BC.

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What does «apple of my eye» even mean?

I do not understand how the phrase «apple of my eye» connotes affection. Where and how did this phrase originate and how can it refer to something dear?

2 Answers 2

You are right, it refers idiomatically to something that resembles an apple, that is the central part of an eye.

Before “apple of one’s eye” was used to mean “favorite,” it was used literally, as an anatomical term. The “apple of the eye” was the pupil, the aperture at the center of the human eye. At the time the phrase came into use, the pupil was erroneously thought to be a solid, round object, and it was called the “apple” because apples were the most commonly encountered spherical objects.

As English idioms go, “apple of one’s eye” is about as old as they get. It first appeared in print in the writings of King Aelfred way back in the ninth century, and crops up, in the modern sense of “cherished favorite,” in both the King James Bible (numerous times) and Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

• Originally meaning the central aperture of the eye. Figuratively it is something, or more usually someone, cherished above others.

‘The apple of my eye’ is exceedingly old and first appears in Old English in a work attributed to King Aelfred (the Great) of Wessex, AD 885, titled Gregory’s Pastoral Care.

Much later, Shakespeare used the phrase in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1600:

• *Flower of this purple dye, Hit with Cupid’s archery, Sink in apple of his eye

It also appears several times in the Bible; for example, in Deuteronomy 32:10 (King James Version, 1611)

• He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.

and in Zechariah 2:8:

• For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

The phrase was known from those early sources but became more widely used in the general population when Sir Walter Scott included it in the popular novel Old Mortality, 1816:

• «Poor Richard was to me as an eldest son, the apple of my eye.»

Some additional notes from the wonderful world of ocular imagery:

It’s worth noting that the word “pupil” for the aperture in the eye comes from the Latin “pupilla,” meaning “little doll,” referring to the tiny reflection one sees of oneself when looking into another person’s eyes.

The same root, in the broader sense of “child,” gave us “pupil” meaning “student in school.” And when we say that we’d “give our eyeteeth” for something we desperately desire, we’re referring to our upper canine teeth, located directly under our eyes. Not only are these teeth immensely useful in eating, but damage to them can cause severe pain in one’s eyes.

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What Is the Meaning of ‘Apple of My Eye’ in the Bible?

In Psalm 17, David asks God to «keep me as the apple of your eye» in a prayer to the Lord. Learn more about the meaning and significance of this phrase!

Hear a just cause, O LORD; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit! From your presence let my vindication come! Let your eyes behold the right! You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night, you have tested me, and you will find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress. With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent. My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped. I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my words. Wondrously show your steadfast love, O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings, From the wicked who do me violence, my deadly enemies who surround me. They close their hearts to pity; with their mouths they speak arrogantly. They have now surrounded our steps; they set their eyes to cast us to the ground. He is like a lion eager to tear, as a young lion lurking in ambush. Arise, O LORD! Confront him, subdue him! Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword, from men by your hand, O LORD, from men of the world whose portion is in this life. You fill their womb with treasure; they are satisfied with children, and they leave their abundance to their infants. As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

Apple of My Eye

» Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.» —Psalm 17:8

The phrase, which first was used in the Bible, comes from a Hebrew expression that literally means “little man of the eye,” and it refers to the tiny reflection of yourself that you can see in other people’s pupils. To be the apple of someone’s eye clearly means that you are being gazed upon and watched closely by that person. Your very image is dancing in the eyes of that person!

So when David asked God to “Keep me as the apple of your eye” in Psalm 17, he was asking God to keep an eye on him and not lose sight of him. David was asking that God would regard him as one would a cherished child, the object of great affection. And because he was the apple of God’s eye, David also asked for God’s protection: “hide me in the shadow of your wings.” Just as a mother bird protects her young by covering them with her wings, David was seeking shelter in God from those who were out to destroy him, from his mortal enemies who were surrounding him.

David knew, even as he was making these heartfelt requests, that God would answer his prayer (v. 6). He was confident that God would show him the “wonders of your great love” and that he would be vindicated before his enemies (v.15).

We can have that same confidence that David had. We, too, can be assured that God hears our prayers. We can know that He will answer them. And because we are the apple of His eye, we know that He will protect us. That doesn’t necessarily mean we will escape from every painful circumstance and difficulty that comes our way. But it does mean that as cherished ones in His sight, God will guide us through those circumstances and help us withstand them.

Apple of My Eye Meaning

In modern English, the phrase «apple of my eye» indicates something or someone that one values above all others. First, the phrase was an expression relating to the pupil of the eye.

«Apple of my eye» can be found in various books of the King James Bible translation from 1611, and some later translations:

• Deuteronomy 32:10: «He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye».
• Psalm 17:8: «Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings».
• Proverbs 7:2: «Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye».
• Lamentations 2:18: «Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease».
• Zechariah 2:8: «For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye».

Apple of My Eye — Related Bible Verses

Scripture quotes about God’s love and grace.

John 3:16 — For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 5:8 — But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Zephaniah 3:17 — The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

1 John 4:16 — So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

1 John 3:1 — See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Romans 8:37-39 — No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Galatians 2:20 — I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

1 John 4:19 — We love because he first loved us.

1 John 4:8 — Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

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