re:And "auge" probably was used for other openings such as that of a needle, which must be very old.

eyes in needles are a rather late developement.. the first needles were realy a type of awl, that punched holes in leather, and then the thong or strip of leather used to 'sew' was pushed through the hole.., the idea of having needle with an eye, and drawing a thread or strip through, came late in the game..

my first reaction was auge gave birth to auger-- a tool for making a hole or opening.. but i was total wrong!
from the american Heritage dictionary on line..A
AUGER: Middle English, from an auger, alteration of a nauger, from Old English nafogr, auger.
See nobh- in Appendix I.

Also ombh-. Navel; later also “central knob,” boss of a shield, hub of a wheel. Oldest form *3nobh-, variant *3ombh- (< *3onbh-). 1a. nave2, from Old English nafu, nafa, hub of a wheel; b. auger, from Old English nafogr, auger, from Germanic compound *nab-gaizaz, tool for piercing wheel hubs (*gaizaz, spear, piercing tool).
Both a and b from Germanic *nab. 2. Variant form *ombh-. umbo, from Latin umb, boss of a shield. 3. Suffixed form *nobh-alo-. navel, from Old English nafela, navel, from Germanic *nabal. 4. Suffixed variant form *ombh-alo-. a. umbilicus; nombril, from Latin umbilcus, navel; b.omphalos, from Greek omphalos, navel. (Pokorny 1. (enebh-) 314.)



my other obsession