ilex

[ ahy-leks ]

/ ˈaɪ lɛks /

noun

holm oak.

Words nearby ilex

ilesha, iletin, ileum, ileus, ileus subparta, ilex, ilford, ilhéus, ilia, iliac, iliac artery

Origin of ilex

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin

Definition for ilex (2 of 2)

ilex²

[ ahy-leks ]

/ ˈaɪ lɛks /

noun

any tree or shrub of the genus Ilex.

a holly.

Origin of ilex

1555–65; < New Latin, Latin īlex ilex¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ilex

A decoction made by boiling the leaves of Ilex cassine in water, employed as "medicine" for ceremonial purification.
Man, Past and Present|Agustus Henry Keane
It grows to a height of about 30 feet, and resembles the Quercus ilex, or evergreen oak, and attains to a great age.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 711, August 17, 1889|Various
All these, with the ilex, being evergreen, one misses those ever-changing autumnal tints that glorify the fall in northern climes.
Unexplored Spain|Abel Chapman
The Ilex, interesting alike from its appearance and physiology, first engages our notice.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 62, Number 385. November, 1847.|Various

Large plantations of ilex have already been established above Posadas.
The Argentine Republic|Pierre Denis

British Dictionary definitions for ilex

ilex

/ (ˈaɪlɛks) /

noun

any of various trees or shrubs of the widely distributed genus Ilex, such as the holly and inkberry: family Aquifoliaceae

another name for the holm oak

Word Origin for ilex

C16: from Latin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012