Olive

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɒ.lɪv/

Definitions

1. A round, often bitter-tasting fruit used in cooking and for making oil
2. A small, oval fruit commonly found in Mediterranean cuisine and pressed to produce oil ; a dark yellowish-green shade often associated with military uniforms or natural foliage
3. The edible fruit harvested from an evergreen tree native to the Mediterranean region ; a muted greenish-brown color frequently used to describe fabric or paint tones

Etymology: The olive tree, and its fruit, is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the Mediterranean, and the word for it likely predates the Greeks who made it famous. Latin "oliva" probably came from Etruscan or an earlier Mediterranean language, with Greek "elaia" from the same source, so the name was borrowed around the sea rather than carried from a single homeland. Latin "oliva" passed into Old French as "olive" and then into Middle English as "olyve." English once had its own word for the fruit. Old English "eleberġe" meant literally "oil berry," a compound that described exactly what the fruit was prized for. The Latin-derived term eventually replaced it, and the native compound disappeared from the language. The word is a doublet of "oil," since both descend from the same ancient root, and the connection shows how closely the fruit and its pressed juice were linked in people's minds.

Synonyms: fruit, berry