Olyasters

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Wild olive trees or shrubs, especially the Elaeagnus species with silvery leaves and small, sweet, fruit-bearing flowers
2. Shrubby or tree-like plants of the oleaster kind, often grown for their silver foliage and fragrant blossoms
3. Thorny, wild relatives of the cultivated olive, typically found in dry or sandy places around the Mediterranean and western Asia

Etymology: "Olyasters" is the plural of "olyaster", a variant spelling of "oleaster", meaning a wild olive tree. The Latin "oleaster" combines "olea", olive, with the suffix "-aster", which marks a partial or inferior likeness, so an oleaster is an olive of an imperfect kind.