Etymology

eyelet

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Today it means: An object that consists of a rim and small hole or perforation to receive a cord or fastener, as in garments, sails, etc. An eyelet may reinforce a hole. Full definition →

Middle English oylet ← Old French oillet
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The story

  1. Old French · derived fromoil“eye”
  2. Old French · derived fromoillet
  3. Middle English · inherited fromoylet
  4. English todayeyelet

From Middle English oylet, from Old French oillet, equivalent to Old French oil (“eye”) + -et (diminutive suffix). Spelling and pronunciation were later on influenced by eye (which is distantly related to oil via Proto-Indo-European) as though suffixed with -let (a double diminutive also from -et).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.