ilex

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an evergreen Mediterranean oak with leathery leaves; the holm oak

   A broad ilex shaded the courtyard throughout the summer.

2. 2
   noun

   a tree or shrub of the genus Ilex, which includes the hollies

   This ilex produces bright red berries in winter.

Borrowed from Latin ilex, the name of the holm oak. Botanists later adopted Ilex as the genus name for hollies, so the common noun can refer either to the holm oak or to a member of the holly genus.

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