olive

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A small, oval fruit with a stone inside, eaten as food or pressed for its oil; green when unripe, black when ripe.

   She added black olives and feta cheese to the Greek salad.

2. 2
   noun

   The evergreen Mediterranean tree that produces this fruit.

   Rows of ancient olives covered the hillside above the village.

3. 3
   adj

   Having a dull yellowish-green colour, like an unripe olive.

   He wore an olive jacket that blended into the forest.

4. 4
   noun

   A dull yellowish-green colour.

   The walls were painted a soft olive that calmed the room.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Olive entered English in the Middle English period and ultimately comes from Greek elaion, meaning “oil.”

From Middle English olyve, from Old French olive (“olive, olive tree”), from Latin olīva (“olive”), itself either from Etruscan *𐌄𐌋𐌄𐌉𐌅𐌀 (*eleiva), Pre-Classical Greek *ἐλαίϝα (*elaíwa) (compare Mycenaean Greek 𐀁𐀨𐀷 (e-ra-wa), Ancient Greek ἐλαία (elaía)), or the same source as those two. In any case, ultimately from a Mediterranean Pre-Greek source, possibly Proto-Berber *wlw (“wild olive”). More questionably, maybe from Proto-Indo-European *loiwom (compare Old Church Slavonic лои (loi, “tallow”), Old Armenian եւղ (ewł, “oil”)). Doublet of oliva and oil. Displaced native Old English eleberġe, l…

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary