Oliva

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of marine mollusk with a smooth, glossy shell often found on ocean floors
2. a genus of gastropods characterized by their elongated and often sculptured shells
3. in some contexts, referring to a type of fruit or vegetable, often used in culinary dishes

Etymology: The Latin "oliva" meant "olive," the fruit and tree, and this zoological term borrows that name for an entirely different creature. Sea snails of the genus Olivia have elongated, glossy shells whose smooth, oval outline resembles an olive fruit, so naturalists reached for the familiar Latin word when they named the group. The result is a doublet of the English "olive," the same Latin source arriving in the language twice by separate routes: once as the everyday word for the fruit, and once as a scientific label for the snails.

Synonyms: olive