green-eyed

The compound 'green-eyed' directly combines the color 'green' with 'eyed' to create a metaphorical descriptor. The association of the color green with jealousy is ancient, possibly linked to the idea of sickness or pallor, as jealousy was historically considered a sickness that drained one's color. This concept was famously cemented in English by Shakespeare's use of "green-eyed monster" in Othello to personify jealousy. Thus, the literal construction "having green eyes" evolved into a fixed idiom symbolizing envy.

Structure: green (color) + eyed (having eyes) 'green' is from Old English 'grēne', of Germanic origin, related to 'grow' and 'grass', functioning as the descriptive color adjective. 'eyed' is from Old English 'ēage' (eye) plus the suffix '-ed', meaning 'having (the specified type of) eyes'.