holly
UK/ˈhɒli/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
British/ˈhɔlɪj/
holly noun: any of various shrubs or (mostly) small trees, of the genus Ilex, either evergreen or deciduous, used as decoration especially at Christmas.
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Noun
holly (countable and uncountable, plural hollies)
- Any of various shrubs or (mostly) small trees, of the genus Ilex, either evergreen or deciduous, used as decoration especially at Christmas.
- We'll deck the halls with boughs of holly.
- Have a tree or two the witches particularly like, such as the alder, larch, cypress and hemlock; then, to counteract any possible evil effects, there must be a holly, yew, hazel, elder, mountain ash or juniper.1940, Rosetta E. Clarkson, Green Enchantments: The Magic Spell of Gardens, The Macmillan Company, page 273
- The wood from this tree.
- Any of several not closely related plant species likened to Ilex because of their prickly, evergreen foliage and/or round, bright-red berries
Proper noun capitalized: Holly
Holly
- A female given name from English.
- Grandma said, "I used to know a little girl called Holly - she always had her dresses trimmed with red or green." Milly-Molly-Mandy thought that was quite a nice name.1929, Joyce Lankester Brisley, chapter 8, in More of Milly-Molly-Mandy
- "Holly, would you mind if I named my little girl 'Holly'? I mean, it's right around Christmas time, and I always think of holly with Christmas.2006, Joyce Winters, Let Your Light Shine, →ISBN, page 209
- A topographic surname from Middle English.
- A male given name transferred from the surname.
- A town in Prowers County, Colorado, named after cattleman Hiram S. Holly.
- A township and village therein, in Oakland County, Michigan.
- A township in Murray County, Minnesota, named after settler John Z. Holly.
- An unincorporated community in Houston County, Texas.
- An unincorporated community in Kitsap County, Washington, named for a large holly tree.
- An unincorporated community in Kanawha County, West Virginia.
holly meaning in Tamil, Bengali, Tagalog and Arabic
holly in Tamil
- ஒருவகை ஓக் மரம்
holly in Bengali
- চিরশ্যামল গুল্মবিশেষ
holly in Tagalog
- any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Ilex
- asebo
holly in Arabic
- any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Ilex
- بَهَشِيَّة bahašiyya, إِيلِكْس ʔīliks
More languagesFewer languages
- holly in Persian
- خاس xâs
Examples of holly in a sentence
- Ericaceous plants include camellias, hollies, hydrangeas, and maples as well as members of the Ericaceae.
- As a Christian, we refer to them as the holly lily crowd.
- If your holly never has any berries, that's probably because it's a male.
Forms of holly
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | hollies |
| Proper noun | |
| alternative form | Hollie |
| alternative form | Hollee |
| alternative form | Holli |
| alternative form | Hollye |
| alternative form | Holley |
Origin of holly
From Middle English holly, holi, holie, a shortened variation of holin, holyn (> English dialectal hollen, holm), from Old English holeġn, holen (“holly; prince, protector”), from Proto-West Germanic *hulis (“holly”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂- (“to beat, break”). Cognates Cognate with Scots holin, hollin, holyn (“holly”), Dutch hulst (“holly”), German Hulst (“holly”), French houx ("holly" < Germanic), Danish hylver (“holly”), Welsh celyn (“holly”), Russian ко́лос (kólos, “ear of wheat”), Albanian kalli (“straw, chaff”), Latin culmus (“stalk, stem”), Sanskrit कटम्ब (kaṭamba, “arrow”), Old Church Slavonic класъ (klasŭ, “ear of grain”).
* As an Irish surname, calque of mac cuilinn (“holly”) (see McCullen) and sometimes McQuillan. * As an English surname, variant of Holley. * As a Czech and Slovak surname, variant of Holý, Holy. * Also as a locational English surname, from Old English hol leah (“wood, clearing, meadow”), compare Hollywood. * Also as an English surname, short form of Holiday. * Also as an English surname, after the holly tree. * As a feminine given name popularized by Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's (especially the 1961 film adaptation starring Audrey Hepburn).
Words formed from holly
- American holly
- California holly
- Christmas holly
- common holly
- deciduous holly
- desert holly
- English holly
- European holly
- false holly
- hollied
- holly barberry
- holly bay
- holly berry
- holly-berry
- holly blue
- holly boy
- Hollybush
- Holly Hill
- Holly Hills
- holly laurel
- holly-leaf oak
- holly-leaved barberry
- holly-leaved cherry
- holly-leaved oak
- hollylike
- holly-lily
- Holly Oak
- holly olive
- holly osmanthus
- holly rose
- Holly Springs
- Hollywood
- Holywell
- inkberry holly
- Japanese holly
- knee holly
- Michigan holly
- mountain holly
- Mount Holly
- sea holly
- Singapore holly
- swamp holly
- winterberry holly
Phrases with holly
Words that rhyme with holly
Questions about holly
- What does holly mean?
- Holly means any of various shrubs or (mostly) small trees, of the genus Ilex, either evergreen or deciduous, used as decoration especially at Christmas.
- What is holly in Tamil?
- Holly in Tamil is ஒருவகை ஓக் மரம். See Holly meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is holly?
- Holly can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce holly?
- Holly is pronounced /ˈhɒli/ (UK).
- What is the plural of holly?
- The plural of holly is hollies.
Words near holly in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: holly (page history and authors); Holly (page history and authors); holly (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); holly (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-holly.ogg.
Cite this entry: “holly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/holly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.