holly

See also: Holly and Hollý

English

leaves and berries of European holly (Ilex aquifolium)

Etymology

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”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈhɒli/
• Rhymes: -ɒli
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑli/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

holly (countable and uncountable, plural hollies)

1. Any of various shrubs or (mostly) small trees, of the genus Ilex, either evergreen or deciduous, used as decoration especially at Christmas.
   • 1940, Rosetta E. Clarkson, Green Enchantments: The Magic Spell of Gardens, The Macmillan Company, page 273:

     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.

2. The wood from this tree.
3. (with a qualifier) Any of several not closely related plant species likened to Ilex because of their prickly, evergreen foliage and/or round, bright-red berries

Derived terms

• American holly
• California holly
• Christmas holly (Ilex aquifolium)
• common holly (Ilex aquifolium)
• deciduous holly
• English holly (Ilex aquifolium)
• European holly (Ilex aquifolium)
• false holly (Osmanthus heterophyllus)
• hollied
• holly barberry
• holly bay (Gordonia lasianthus)
• holly berry, holly-berry
• holly blue
• Hollybush
• Holly Hills
• holly laurel (Prunus ilicifolia)
• holly-leaf oak (Quercus ilicifolia)
• holly-leaved barberry
• holly-leaved cherry
• holly-leaved oak (Quercus ilicifolia)
• hollylike
• Holly Oak (Delaware)
• holly oak (Quercus ilex)
• holly olive (Osmanthus heterophyllus)
• holly osmanthus (Osmanthus heterophyllus)
• holly rose (Turnera ulmifolia)
• Holly Springs
• Hollywood
• Holywell
• inkberry holly
• knee holly
• Michigan holly
• Mount Holly
• sea holly
• Singapore holly
• swamp holly
• winterberry holly

Translations

any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Ilex

• Albanian: ashe (sq) f
• Arabic: بَهَشِيَّة f (bahašiyya), إِيلِكْس m (ʔīliks)
• Armenian: փշարմավ (hy) (pʻšarmav)
• Asturian: acebu m
• Azerbaijani: şümşə, pirkal
• Basque: gorosti
• Breton: kelenn (br)
• Bulgarian: джел m (džel), бодлива зеленика f (bodliva zelenika)
• Catalan: grèvol (ca) m
• Cherokee: ᎤᏍᏓᏍᏗ (usdasdi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 冬青 (zh) (dōngqīng)

• Cornish: kelynnen f, kelyn f pl
• Czech: cesmína (cs) f
• Danish: kristtorn
• Dutch: hulst (nl) m
• Esperanto: ilekso
• Estonian: iileks, astelpõõsas
• Finnish: orjanlaakeri (fi)
• Franco-Provençal: agriblon m
• French: houx (fr) m
• Friulian: rafacon m
• Galician: acivro (gl) m, xardón (gl) m
• Georgian: ბაძგი (baʒgi), ჭყორი (č̣q̇ori)
• German: Stechpalme (de) f, Hulse f, Hulst m, Hülse (de) f, Stechhülse f, Hülsdorn m, Ilex (de) m
• Greek: ίλεξ f (ílex)

  Ancient: κήλαστρος f (kḗlastros)

• Hungarian: magyal (hu)
• Ido: ilexo (io)
• Irish: cuileann m or f, crann cuilinn m
• Italian: agrifoglio (it) m
• Japanese: 西洋柊 (セイヨウヒイラギ, seiyōhiiragi), (a certain species) 犬黄楊 (イヌツゲ, inutsuge), 黐の木 (モチノキ, mochinoki)
• Latin: acrifolium
• Lithuanian: bugienis
• Mingrelian: ბარცხინი (barcxini), ბარცხელი (barcxeli), ბაძგი (baʒgi)
• Navajo: didzéłchííʼ
• Norman: housse m (Jersey)
• Norwegian: kristtorn m
• Occitan: grefuèlh (oc) m, agrèvol (oc), agreu (oc), grifol (oc)
• Old English: holen m
• Ottoman Turkish: پرنال (pırnal)
• Persian: کولخاس (kulexâs)
• Polish: ostrokrzew (pl) m
• Portuguese: azevinho (pt)
• Quechua: wayusa, asiwu
• Romanian: ilice f, laur (ro) m
• Russian: па́дуб (ru) m (pádub), остроли́ст (ru) m (ostrolíst)
• Sardinian: alase m, golosti m, olosti, bolostru
• Scottish Gaelic: cuileann m, crann-cuilinn m, craobh-chuilinn f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: божи́ковина f

  Latin: božíkovina (sh) f

• Sicilian: addaurufogghiu (scn) m
• Slovak: cezmína (sk) f
• Slovene: bodíka f
• Spanish: acebo (es) m
• Svan: ბა̈რცხილ (bärcxil)
• Swedish: järnek (sv)
• Tagalog: asebo
• Turkish: çobanpüskülü (tr)
• Ukrainian: па́дуб (pádub)
• Venetan: agrifoi m, spergol
• Welsh: celynen f, celyn f pl (collective)

Middle English

Etymology 1

Adjective

holly

1. Alternative form of holy (sacred)

Etymology 2

Adjective

holly

1. Alternative form of holy (porous)

Yola

Alternative forms

• holy

Etymology

From Middle English holly, from Old English hāliġ, from Proto-West Germanic *hailag.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɔliː/

Adjective

holly

1. holy
   • 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY:

     Hollydie.

     Holiday.

Derived terms

• hollydie

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 47