Oleaster

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A shrubby plant with small silvery or yellowish flowers and berry-like fruits, native to warm regions and often used for ornamental purposes or hedgerows
2. A woody shrub characterized by small silvery flowers and edible, berry-like fruit, commonly found in warmer climates and utilized in landscaping and as hedging plants
3. This plant species features small, attractive silvery-hued blooms and berry-like fruits, thriving in warm environments while serving decorative and functional roles in gardens

Etymology: Oleaster is a case where the Latin ancestor reveals the meaning. Latin "oleaster" was a compound of "olea," the olive tree, and the suffix "-aster," which marked something resembling or inferior to the thing named, so the plant was literally a wild or false olive. The name was given to the wild olive, which looks much like the cultivated tree but produces only small, bitter fruit, and the shrub described here is a different plant altogether, the Elaeagnus of the oleaster family, whose silvery leaves and flowers resemble those of the olive. English borrowed the word from Latin through Middle English, where it appeared as "oliaster" and "olyaster." The botanical sense kept the same logic: a plant that looks like an olive without being one. Its silvery foliage and sweet, berry-like fruit made it a favorite for hedging in warm gardens, which is why the name is still used in landscaping.

Synonyms: wild olive, INVALID, INVALID, INVALID, INVALID