OLIVE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does olive mean? 

• OLIVE (noun)
  The noun OLIVE has 5 senses:

1. small ovoid fruit of the European olive tree; important food and source of oil

2. evergreen tree cultivated in the Mediterranean region since antiquity and now elsewhere; has edible shiny black fruits

3. hard yellow often variegated wood of an olive tree; used in cabinetwork

4. one-seeded fruit of the European olive tree usually pickled and used as a relish

5. a yellow-green color of low brightness and saturation

  Familiarity information: OLIVE used as a noun is common.

• OLIVE (adjective)
  The adjective OLIVE has 1 sense:

1. of a yellow-green color similar to that of an unripe olive

  Familiarity information: OLIVE used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OLIVE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Small ovoid fruit of the European olive tree; important food and source of oil

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("olive" is a kind of...):

fruit (the ripened reproductive body of a seed plant)

Meronyms (substance of "olive"):

olive oil (oil from olives)

Holonyms ("olive" is a part of...):

European olive tree; Olea europaea; olive (evergreen tree cultivated in the Mediterranean region since antiquity and now elsewhere; has edible shiny black fruits)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Evergreen tree cultivated in the Mediterranean region since antiquity and now elsewhere; has edible shiny black fruits

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

European olive tree; Olea europaea; olive

Hypernyms ("olive" is a kind of...):

olive tree (a tree of the genus Olea cultivated for its fruit)

Meronyms (parts of "olive"):

olive (one-seeded fruit of the European olive tree usually pickled and used as a relish)

olive (small ovoid fruit of the European olive tree; important food and source of oil)

Holonyms ("olive" is a member of...):

genus Olea; Olea (evergreen trees and shrubs having oily one-seeded fruits)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Hard yellow often variegated wood of an olive tree; used in cabinetwork

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("olive" is a kind of...):

wood (the hard fibrous lignified substance under the bark of trees)

Holonyms ("olive" is a substance of...):

olive tree (a tree of the genus Olea cultivated for its fruit)

Sense 4

Meaning:

One-seeded fruit of the European olive tree usually pickled and used as a relish

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Hypernyms ("olive" is a kind of...):

relish (spicy or savory condiment)

drupe; stone fruit (fleshy indehiscent fruit with a single seed: e.g. almond; peach; plum; cherry; elderberry; olive; jujube)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "olive"):

black olive; ripe olive (olives picked ripe and cured in brine then dried or pickled or preserved canned or in oil)

green olive (olives picked green and pickled in brine; infrequently stuffed with e.g. pimento)

Holonyms ("olive" is a part of...):

European olive tree; Olea europaea; olive (evergreen tree cultivated in the Mediterranean region since antiquity and now elsewhere; has edible shiny black fruits)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A yellow-green color of low brightness and saturation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("olive" is a kind of...):

chromatic color; chromatic colour; spectral color; spectral colour (a color that has hue)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "olive"):

drab; olive drab (a dull greyish to yellowish or light olive brown)

• OLIVE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of a yellow-green color similar to that of an unripe olive

Similar:

chromatic (being or having or characterized by hue)

 Context examples 

“We want to know whether olive oil added at a later time point in the diet can stop or reverse the disease.”

(Study: Olive Oil Protects Brain From Alzheimer’s, VOA News)

The virgin olive oil is the healthiest option, which has already been proven in relation to diverse aspects of health.

(Long-term consumption of sunflower and fish oils damages the liver, University of Granada)

The 186 people randomly assigned to the placebo group received 5 grams daily of olive oil (about 1 teaspoon) in identical capsules.

(Omega-3s from fish oil supplements no better than placebo for dry eye, National Institutes of Health)

Produced by pressing olives, Olive Oil has a high content of monounsaturated fats, thought beneficial for health.

(Olive Oil, NCI Thesaurus)

The olive oil extract/curcumin-based capsule is rich in phytonutrients, especially polyphenols.

(Olive Oil Extract/Curcumin-based Capsule, NCI Thesaurus)

Colonel Campbell rather preferred an olive.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

A group of sporadic and inherited neurodegenerative disorders affecting the cerebellum, pons, and inferior olives.

(Olivopontocerebellar Atrophy, NCI Thesaurus)

Try to replace them with oils such as canola, olive, safflower, sesame, or sunflower.

(Dietary Fats, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

The surfactant mannide monooleate in Montanide ISA 51 VG is derived from vegetable-grade (VG) oleic acid that was purified from olive oil.

(NY-ESO-1 Protein Vaccine Plus Montanide ISA-51 VG, NCI Thesaurus)

A few minutes later we were joined by a short, stout man whose olive face and coal-black hair proclaimed his Southern origin, though his speech was that of an educated Englishman.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)