yeux

Etymology
From, , from , plural form of. A regular outcome of, the accusative plural of (the source of œil). Mildred Pope explains its phonetic development as becoming *[ˈɔːʎos] > *[ˈweʎts] > *[weuts] via regular sound changes, followed by a regular dissimilation of [weu] to [jeu] (see for example > *[lweu] >,  > *[dʒweu] >  > ). The resulting [jeuts] then becomes modern [jø].

Old and Middle French present many variant forms of this plural, including, from Godefroy's Dictionnaire du Moyen Français: /,, /, //, ,.

Pronunciation

 * les yeux:
 * les yeux:

Noun

 * , eyes

Usage notes
Unlike most words beginning with consonantal y, this word triggers with valid preceding words. Eg:
 * les yeux
 * les grands yeux
 * Il a de beaux yeux