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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

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

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

A team of biologists working in the early morning hours Friday collected the olive ridley sea turtle eggs and transferred them to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, the agencies said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

Nesting populations of olive ridley sea turtles are found in Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

The next morning, I drizzled a little olive oil over the strata, put it into a 350-degree oven and went to shower.

From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2026

I tossed it with store-bought ravioli and shredded rotisserie chicken warmed in olive oil, put peas on the side, and waited for the part where I needed to fix something.

From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026

Papá was fair-haired and light-complected, implying a Spanish bloodline rather than native Mexican, but Mamá did have olive skin, black hair, and dark eyes.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall

The parent of Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse said fiscal first-quarter earnings fell to $233.4 million, or $2.04 a share, from $257.8 million, or $2.19 a share, a year earlier.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 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

Within the conference, the biggest area belonged to Olive Young Festa market, which was filled with beauty brands trying to get their name in front of people.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

Olive oil, nuts, seafood, and other Mediterranean diet staples are often expensive, which can put the Mediterranean diet out of reach.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 16, 2026

So when the big day arrives, Olive, Grammy, the Laskos, Ronan, and I all pile onto a bench in the back of the theater.

From "Shouting at the Rain" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

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

In her formal review, she was less forgiving: “Green olives don’t belong on Caesar and this one was lacking an adequate amount of croutons.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 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

At its core, dirty martini dip combines olives, cheese and olive brine into one highly scoopable spread.

From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026

Jack, as always, had peeled open a tin of shriveled purple olives.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

Related Words

• beige
• brownish
• drab
• khaki