eyelet

 
Pronunciation: /ˈʌɪlɪt/

noun

  • 1a small round hole in leather or cloth for threading a lace, string, or rope through.
  • a metal ring used to reinforce an eyelet in leather or cloth.
  • a small hole ornamented with stitching around its edge, used as a form of decoration in embroidery: [as modifier]: the white eyelet duvet
  • 2a small hole or slit in a wall for looking through.

verb (eyelets, eyeleting, eyeleted)

[with object]
  • make eyelets in (fabric): (as adjective eyeleted) her dress is of the whitest fabric, all eyeleted, embroidered, sashed

Origin:

late Middle English oilet, from Old French oillet, diminutive of oil 'eye', from Latin oculus. The change in the first syllable in the 17th century was due to association with eye