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• olive
  olive

  noun

  an evergreen tree, Olea europaea, of Mediterranean and other warm regions, cultivated chiefly for its fruit.
• Olive
  Olive

  noun

  a female given name.

olive

¹ American  

[ol-iv] / ˈɒl ɪv /

noun

• olives
  plural

1. an evergreen tree, Olea europaea, of Mediterranean and other warm regions, cultivated chiefly for its fruit.

2. the fruit of this tree, a small oval drupe, eaten as a relish and used as a source of oil.

3. Also called olive wood. the wood of this tree, valued for ornamental work.

4. the foliage of this tree.

5. a wreath of it.

6. any of various related or similar trees.

7. olive branch.

8. the ocher green or dull yellow green of the unripe olive fruit.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or made of olives, their foliage, or their fruit.

2. of the color olive.

3. tinged with this color.

   an olive complexion.

Olive ² American  

[ol-iv] / ˈɒl ɪv /

noun

1. a female given name.

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olive British  

/ ˈɒlɪv /

noun

1. an evergreen oleaceous tree, Olea europaea, of the Mediterranean region but cultivated elsewhere, having white fragrant flowers, and edible shiny black fruits

2. the fruit of this plant, eaten as a relish and used as a source of olive oil

3. the wood of the olive tree, used for ornamental work

4. any of various trees or shrubs resembling the olive

5. 1. a yellow-green colour

   2. ( as adjective )

      an olive coat

6. an angler's name for the dun of various mayflies or an artificial fly in imitation of this

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or made of the olive tree, its wood, or its fruit

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subolive
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• olives
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of olive

1150–1200; Middle English < Old French < Latin olīva, by-form of olea < dialectal Greek *elaíwa olive, olive tree; cf. oil, oleaceous

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Explanation

An olive is a very small fruit, although you probably think of it as a savory snack. You might find an olive on a salad, on a pizza, or even on a toothpick in your martini. Olives are so naturally bitter that they're basically inedible unless they've been treated — cured with lye or salt, and then fermented. In addition to the olives you see in jars on grocery store shelves, olive trees yield an expensive, durable wood; and of course, olive oil. You can also describe the yellowish-green color of an unripe olive as olive. And when someone offers "an olive branch," they are trying to make peace or come to an understanding.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

olive Olive olives

"It could be olive oil, it could be wine, it could be tree resins," Sowada said.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

The official said China agreed to lower tariffs on roughly 4 billion euros of EU goods, including auto parts, footwear, ice cream and olive oil.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

The third group received glucose first, with olive oil administered 15 minutes afterward.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

In a historic first, two olive ridley sea turtles crawled out of the sea within the second week of September and laid their eggs in pits of sand in Seal Beach and Huntington Beach.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

They smelled sweet and tangy, and the dish was colored rich gold in places and olive green in others.

From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack

The restaurant occupied a sprawling shopping center alongside an Olive Garden, a Cabela’s and a Costco, making it something of a regional mecca for homecoming dinners, birthday parties and Little League victories.

From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026

Olive Garden started offering unlimited breadsticks, soup or salad soon after it opened in 1982.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

She was transferred to Hunstanton Sea Life Centre in Norfolk, where a second loggerhead turtle, called Olive, has been under care since December.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

There’s Olive, 12, from Charlotte, North Carolina, whose goal is to sell 8,000 boxes and who already possesses the polished ease of someone who understands how to speak to an audience.

From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026

Then Louise said in a small voice, “Well, I hope it works out for them. I wouldn’t miss Olive, particularly. As long as they bring Camilla back.”

From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck

Some begin swiftly wrapping up the olives to leave.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

Ashtiyeh and another AFP photographer, John Wessels, were near the northern village of Aqraba where they noticed an Israeli soldier detaining a man as local Palestinians picked olives.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

When the 2023 flood came, his crew scrambled to set up about 30 diesel pumps and sent water flowing onto a vineyard and orchards of almonds, pistachios and olives.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026

Serve either spritz—or both, each takes five minutes to make—with olives, an antipasti plate or, if you’d rather order in, a couple of pizzas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

Flatnose brought Meggie and Fenoglio their breakfast, and this morning it was more than bread and a few olives.

From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke

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