olive
/ˈɒ.lɪv//ˈɑ.lɪv/
olive noun: a tree of species Olea europaea cultivated since ancient times in the Mediterranean for its fruit and the oil obtained from it.
Noun
olive (plural olives)
- A tree of species Olea europaea cultivated since ancient times in the Mediterranean for its fruit and the oil obtained from it.
- The small oval fruit of this tree, eaten ripe (usually black) or unripe (usually green).
- Trevor, like an Aussie outbacker, eats snacks and a pickup meal of bread, cantaloupe, olives, mangoes, and melon.2010, Mary Ellen Snodgrass, Peter Carey: A Literary Companion, page 100
- The wood of the olive tree.
- A dark yellowish-green color, that of an unripe olive.
- An olivary body, part of the medulla oblongata.
- A component of a plumbing compression joint; a ring which is placed between the nut and the pipe and compressed during fastening to provide a seal.
- A small slice of meat seasoned, rolled up, and cooked.
- a beef olive
- olives of veal
- Any shell of the genus Oliva and allied genera; so called from the shape.
- An oystercatcher, a shore bird of genus Haematopus.
Adjective
olive (comparative more olive, superlative most olive)
- Of a grayish green color, that of an unripe olive.
- Appleby[…]rose from his seat when Morales came in. He shook hands urbanely, unbuckled his sword, and laid his kepi on the table, and then sat down with an expression of concern in his olive face which Appleby fancied was assumed.1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 22, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC
- The “little green men”—faces covered, wearing unmarked olive uniforms, speaking Russian and using Russian weapons—have played a significant role in both the occupation of Crimea and the civil war in eastern Ukraine.¹⁹⁶2015, Shane R. Reeves, David Wallace, “The Combatant Status of the “Little Green Men” and Other Participants in the Ukraine Conflict”, in International Law Studies, US Naval War College, volume 91...
Proper noun capitalized: Olive
Olive
- A female given name from English.
- And hear me swear a solemn oath, / That only by thy side / Will I to Olive plight my troth, / And gain her for my bride.1842, Alfred Tennyson, The Talking Oak
- "Elspie, I have a thought! The baby shall be christened Olive!"
"It's a strange, heathen name, Mrs. Rothesay."
"Not at all. Listen how I chanced to think of it. This very morning, just before you came to waken me, I had such a queer, delicious dream. [ - - - ] Then I looked up, after awhile, and...1850, Dinah Craik, Olive, Chapman and Hall, page 26
- A surname.
- A male given name from English.
- A community in the city of Orange, Orange County, California.
- A township and unincorporated community therein, in St. Joseph County, Indiana.
- An unincorporated community in Dallas County, Missouri, named after a Baptist church.
- An unincorporated community in Powder River County, Montana.
- A town in Ulster County, New York, from the bible story of dove and olive branch.
- An unincorporated community in Creek County, Oklahoma, from the girl's name.
- An unincorporated community in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.
- An unincorporated community in Pocahontas County, West Virginia.
- A number of townships in the United States, listed under Olive Township.
olive meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
olive in Hindi
- colour
- तैलबदर tailbadar, तैलबदर रंग tailbadar raṅg, तैलबदर हरि tailbadar hari, ज़ैतूनी zaitūnī
- fruit
- ज़ैतून zaitūn, तैलबदर tailabdar, जलपाई jalpāī
olive in Tamil
- இடலை, ஒலிவம், சைத்தூன்
olive in Marathi
- fruit
- ऑलिव्ह ŏlivha
olive in Urdu
- colour
- زیتون رنگ zaitūn raṅg
- fruit
- زیتون zaitūn
More languagesFewer languages
- olive in Bengali
- জয়তূনী joẏtuni, জলপাই jolpai
- olive in Telugu
- ఆలివ్, ఆలీవ్
- olive in Malayalam
- ഒലിവ് olivŭ
- olive in Kannada
- ಆಲಿವ್, ಆಲೀವ್
- olive in Punjabi
- ਜੈਤੂਨ jaitūn
- olive in Gujarati
- ઓલિવ oliv, જૈતૂન jaitūn
- olive in Odia
- ଅଲିଭ୍, ଅଲିଭ
- olive in Sinhala
- ඔලිව් oliw
- olive in Assamese
- জলফাই zolophai
- olive in Nepali
- जैतुन, ओलिव, ओलिभ
- olive in Pashto
- زيتون zaytún
- olive in Tagalog
- oliba
- olive in Arabic
- زَيْتُونِيّ zaytūniyy, زَيْتِيّ zaytiyy, زَيْتُون zaytūn
- olive in Malay
- zaitun
- olive in Indonesian
- zaitun
- olive in Persian
- رنگ زیتونی, زیتونی zeytuni, زیتون zeytun
- olive in Thai
- กอก gɔ̀ɔk, มะกอก má-gɔ̀ɔk, โอลีฟ oo-líif
- olive in Vietnamese
- ô liu
- olive in Myanmar
- သံလွင် samlwang
- Sindhi
- زيتون zetõ
Examples of olive in a sentence
- Cream the vegetables with the olive oil, flour, salt and water mixture.
- There's no olive oil; will sunflower oil do? — I'll have to run that by the boss.
- To make hummus you need to blend chickpeas, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic.
Forms of olive
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | olives |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more olive |
| superlative | most olive |
Origin of olive
From Middle English olyve, from Old French olive (“olive, olive tree”), from Latin olīva (“olive”), itself from either Etruscan *𐌄𐌋𐌄𐌉𐌅𐌀 (*eleiva), Proto-Hellenic *elaíwā (compare Mycenaean Greek 𐀁𐀨𐀷 (e-ra-wa), Ancient Greek ἐλαίᾱ (elaíā)), or the same source as those two. In any case, ultimately from a Mediterranean Pre-Greek source, possibly Proto-Berber *wlw (“wild olive”). More questionably, maybe from Proto-Indo-European *loiwom (compare Old Church Slavonic лои (loi, “tallow”), Old Armenian եւղ (ewł, “oil”)). Doublet of oliva and oil. Displaced native Old English eleberġe, literally "oil berry."
Medieval form of the Latin saint's name Oliva "olive"; revived in the 19th century when flower and plant names became fashionable. The surname is topographical, often representing an Anglicization of continental European surnames such as Spanish Oliva.
Words formed from olive
- autumn olive
- beef olive
- black olive
- blue olive berry
- Bohemian olive
- Chinese olive
- dwarf olive
- first olive out of the bottle
- first olive out of the jar
- golden-olive woodpecker
- green olive
- holly olive
- kalamata olive
- Mission olive
- mock olive
- Mount Olive
- netted olive
- Niçoise olive
- olivaceous
- olive baboon
- oliveback
- olive-backed oriole
- olive-backed pipit
- olive-backed sunbird
- olive-backed thrush
- olive barb
- olive bee-eater
- olive box
- olive-branched
- olive-branch
- olive branch
- olive bread
- olive bulbul
- olive burger
- olive coleus
- olive colobus
- olive crown
- olived
- olive drab
- olive finch
- olive flounder
- olive fly
- olive flyrobin
- olive fruit fly
- olive green
- olive grove
- olivegrower
- olivegrowing
- olive honeyeater
- olive ibis
- olive juice
- olive knot
- olive lace bug
- oliveless
- olivelike
- olive loaf
- olive long-tailed cuckoo
- olive mangrove
- olive marsh snake
- olive moth
Phrases with olive
- Mt. Olive
- oil olive
- olive oil
- olive ore
- tea olive
- olive oils
- olive oily
- olive plum
- olive tree
- sand olive
- wild olive
- olive boxes
39 more phrasesFewer phrases
- olive drabs
- olive flies
- olive moths
- olive plums
- olive shell
- olive trees
- queen olive
- olive breads
- olive crowns
- olive greens
- olive groves
- olive loaves
- olive ridley
- olive shells
- olive willow
- olive wreath
- spurge olive
- olive baboons
- olive burgers
- olive sparrow
- olive warbler
- olive wreaths
- Russian olive
- olive branched
- olive branches
- olive oiliness
- olive sparrows
- olive tubercle
- olive warblers
- olive branching
- olive flounders
- olive sea snake
- olive pomace oil
- olive sea snakes
- olive fruit flies
- olive pomace oils
- olive ridley sea turtle
- olive ridley sea turtles
- olive quick decline syndrome
Questions about olive
- What does olive mean?
- Olive means a tree of species Olea europaea cultivated since ancient times in the Mediterranean for its fruit and the oil obtained from it.
- What is olive in Hindi?
- Olive in Hindi is तैलबदर (tailbadar), तैलबदर रंग (tailbadar raṅg), तैलबदर हरि (tailbadar hari). See Olive meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is olive?
- Olive can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce olive?
- Olive is pronounced /ˈɒ.lɪv/ (UK).
- What is the plural of olive?
- The plural of olive is olives.
Words near olive in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: olive (page history and authors); Olive (page history and authors); olive (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); olive (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); olive (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); olive (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); olive (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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-uk-olive.ogg, En-us-olive.ogg.
Cite this entry: “olive.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/olive. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.