apple of one's eye

[ap-uhl uhv wuhnz ahy]

noun

1. something or someone very precious or dear.

   His new baby girl was the apple of his eye.

apple of one's eye

1. The favorite object of a person's love or affection: “Linda was fond of all the horses on the ranch, but the little palomino was the apple of her eye.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of apple of one's eye¹

First recorded before 900; Old English æppel “apple,” also used to translate Latin pupillam oculī “pupil of the eye” (Psalm 18:8 of the Vulgate), figuratively extended to something or someone precious

Idioms and Phrases

Special favorite, beloved person or thing, as in The youngest was the apple of his father's eye. This term, which rests on the ancients' idea that the eye's pupil is apple-shaped and that eyes are particularly precious, appears in the Bible (Deuteronomy 32:10). [Early 1600s]

Example Sentences

Dr. Peterson said parents should keep in mind that “what supports healthy growth of the child and capacity to love themselves is parental idealization, that this child is perfect, and the apple of one’s eye.”

Read more on New York Times

It is necessary to be constantly vigilant, to protect, as the apple of one's eye, the armed forces and defensive power of our country.

Read more on Time Magazine Archive