Olive

See also: olive

English

Etymology

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.

Proper noun

Olive

1. A female given name.
   • 1842 Alfred Tennyson, The Talking Oak:

     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.

   • 1850 Dinah Craik, Olive, Chapman and Hall, page 26:

     "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 saw standing at the foot of the bed a little angel—a child-angel—with a green olive-branch in its hand. [ - - - ] "

   • 2006 Alice Munro, The View from Castle Rock, Chatto & Windus, ISBN 0701179899, pages 227-228:

     There was Olive, a soft drowsy girl who didn't like me because I called her Olive Oyl. Even after I was made to apologize she didn't like me.

2. A surname​.
3. (rare) A male given name.

Related terms

• Olivia

Anagrams

• voile

---

German

Wikipedia ^de

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

Olive f ‎(genitive Olive, plural Oliven)

1. olive (fruit)

Derived terms

Derived terms

grauoliv oliv Olivenbaum Olivenblätter

olivenfarben olivenfarbig Olivenhain Olivenibis

Olivenkern Olivenstein olivgrün

External links

• Olive in Duden online