目
me
One eye becomes a 'purpose' and a 'second one'
The picture Between the lids, a pupil locks onto one point and follows it. 目 is the eye that fixes on a point with nothing passing through; 口 is the opening things pass through.
Where the picture shows up in 目
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the eye in your body
朝から目が痛いです。
asa kara me ga itai desu
My eye has hurt since this morning.
One eye has gone red and keeps getting rubbed with the back of a hand
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what goes into the eye
目薬を一日三回さしてください。
megusuri o ichinichi sankai sashite kudasai
Use the eye drops three times a day.
A head tips back and a small bottle held above the eye lets one drop fall
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the pupil passing across
書類に目を通しておきます。
shorui ni me o tōshite okimasu
I'll look over the documents.
A pupil slides across the page from the first line to the last
目を通す is 'to pass the eye through': reading drawn as the pupil's travel.
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the point where the eye stops
旅行の目的は何ですか。
ryokō no mokuteki wa nan desu ka
What is the purpose of your trip?
Among many dots on a map, the eye stops on one and a line runs out to it
目的 is 'the mark the eye aims at'.
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the spot the eye counted off
二番目の部屋が空いています。
ni-ban-me no heya ga aite imasu
The second room is free.
The eye ticks off doors along a corridor, one, two, and stops at the second
番目 marks the order the eye has counted off.
All of it in one picture
目 is one eye fixing on a point. Let it hurt and you get 目が痛い; put medicine into it and you get 目薬, eye drops. Run the pupil all the way across a page and you get 目を通す, to look something over; make the point where the eye stops the place you are headed and you get 目的, a purpose; number the spots the eye has counted off and you get 二番目, the second one. In every case, the thing that moves first is the pupil.