Etymology

ogle

O1G2L1E1

Today it means: To stare at (someone or something), especially impertinently, amorously, or covetously. Full definition →

Low German ögeln ← Middle Low German ö̂gelen ← Old Saxon ōgian
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The story

  1. Dutch · derived from*ogelen
  2. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*augijan“to show”
  3. Old Saxon · derived fromōgian
  4. Middle Low German · derived fromö̂gen
  5. Middle Low German · derived fromö̂gelen
  6. Low German · borrowed fromögeln“to ogle, to flirt with one's eyes”
  7. English todayogle

17th century. Probably from Low German ögeln (“to ogle, to flirt with one's eyes”), from Middle Low German ö̂gelen, frequentative of Middle Low German ö̂gen, from Old Saxon ōgian, from Proto-West Germanic *augijan (“to show”). Alternatively from an equivalent Dutch *ogelen, but this seems unattested (only the simplex ogen). By surface analysis, eye + -le.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.