Olive

See also: olive and olīve

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 from English.
   • 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, 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 from English.
4. A number of places in the United States:
   1. A community in the city of Orange, Orange County, California.
   2. A township and unincorporated community therein, in St. Joseph County, Indiana.
   3. An unincorporated community in Dallas County, Missouri, named after a Baptist church.
   4. An unincorporated community in Powder River County, Montana.
   5. A town in Ulster County, New York, from the bible story of dove and olive branch.
   6. An unincorporated community in Creek County, Oklahoma, from the girl's name.
   7. An unincorporated community in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.
   8. An unincorporated community in Pocahontas County, West Virginia.
   9. A number of townships in the United States, listed under Olive Township.

Related terms

• Olivia

Anagrams

• lovie, viole, voile

Cebuano

Etymology

From English Olive.

Proper noun

Olive

1. a female given name from English

German

Etymology

From Middle High German olīve, borrowed from Latin oliva.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oˈliːvə/
• IPA^(key): /oˈliːfə/ (Austrian)

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

Olive f (genitive Olive, plural Oliven)

1. olive (fruit)

Declension

Declension of Olive [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Olive	die	Oliven
genitive	einer	der	Olive	der	Oliven
dative	einer	der	Olive	den	Oliven
accusative	eine	die	Olive	die	Oliven

Related terms

• grauoliv
• oliv
• Olivenbaum
• Olivenblätter
• olivenfarben
• olivenfarbig
• Olivenhain
• Olivenibis
• Olivenkern
• Olivenstein
• Olivenzweig
• olivgrün

 

Further reading

• “Olive” in Duden online
• “Olive” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache