olio

American  

[oh-lee-oh] / ˈoʊ liˌoʊ /

noun

plural

olios

1. a dish of many ingredients.

2. Informal. olla podrida.

3. a mixture of heterogeneous elements; hodgepodge.

4. a medley or potpourri, as of musical or literary selections; miscellany.

5. Theater.

   1. a specialty act performed downstage while the upstage set is changed.

   2. a performance, as a musical number, presented between scenes or acts.

   3. drop scene.

   4. a program of variety acts, especially the second half of a minstrel show.

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olio British  

/ ˈəʊlɪˌəʊ /

noun

1. a dish of many different ingredients

2. a miscellany or potpourri

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Etymology

Origin of olio

1635–45; < Spanish olla pot, stew < Latin olla, ōla pot, jar

Explanation

An olio is a hodgepodge of various things. The contents of your desk might be an olio of books and notebooks, uneaten snacks, the mini flashlight you found on the sidewalk, a golf ball, toothbrush and toothpaste, a Frisbee... An olio was originally, and still is, a Spanish or Latin American stew containing a variety of ingredients, such as sausage, perhaps other meats, tomatoes, chickpeas, and various other vegetables. The full name for this stew is olla podrida. The word olio came to be used for any collection of many kinds of different things, especially things that don't really seem to belong together or have anything in common. It can also describe a musical medley or a variety show.

Example Sentences

Massimo Leveglia and Nick Baglivo’s L’industrie, also located in Williamsburg, offers gelato con olio in addition to a lemon sorbetto with sea salt and spicy Chilean olive oil.

From Salon • Apr. 20, 2024

While my parents made sure that I hadn’t poisoned my grandmother, I went back to the kitchen and whipped up a simple spaghetti aglio e olio, which I secretly preferred to chanterelles.

From The New Yorker • Nov. 18, 2019

Ms. Ardu is adding swordfish carpaccio and spaghetti aglio olio to the restaurant’s red-sauce menu.

From New York Times • Sep. 10, 2019

But I believe I had Peruvian chef Virgilio Martinez’s blessing for my Cal-Peru-Ecuador olio.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 10, 2018

Sometimes I assisted the musical olio with dialect recitations and character sketches from the back step of the wagon.

From Complete Works of James Whitcomb Riley — Volume 1 by Riley, James Whitcomb