olive

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A Mediterranean evergreen tree (Olea europaea) having fragrant white flowers, usually lance-shaped leathery leaves, and edible drupes.
2. n. The small ovoid fruit of this tree, an important food and source of oil.
3. n. A yellow green of low to medium lightness and low to moderate saturation.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The oil-tree, Olea Europæa, cultivated from the earliest times in Syria and Palestine, and thence in remote antiquity distributed throughout the whole Mediterranean region: in recent times it has been successfully planted in Australia, southern California, and elsewhere. The olive is of low stature (some 40 feet) with rounded top; the trunk and branches are apt to be gnarled and fantastic, and the leaves are small and lance-shaped, dull-green above and silvery beneath; the general effect is that of an old willow. It is an evergreen, of great longevity and productiveness, and thrives in poor and dry calcareous and sandy soils. Of the cultivated variety (O. sativa) some twenty or thirty subvarieties are recognized. The wild variety (O. Oleaster) has short blunt leaves, the branches more or less spiny, and a worthless fruit. It is native in southern Europe as well as Asia. The olive was anciently sacred to Pallas, and its leaves were used for victors' wreaths among the Greeks and Romans. (See olive-branch.) The value of the olive lies chiefly in the fruit; but its wood also is valuable. Olive-gum or Lecca-gum (oliva) exudes from the bark, and was formerly used as a stimulant, while the bark itself has served as a tonic.
2. n. The fruit of the common olive-tree, a small ellipsoid drupe (the “berry”), bluish-black in color when fully ripe. It is an important source of oil (see olive-oil) and is also largely consumed in the form of preserved or pickled olives, consisting of the green-colored unripe drupes, first soaked in water containing potash and lime to expel bitterness, and then bottled in an aromatized salt liquid.
3. n. A tree of some other species of Olea, or of some other genus resembling the olive. See Olea, and phrases below.
4. n. The color of the unripe olive; a color composed of yellow, black, red, and white in such proportions as to form a low-toned dull green, slightly yellow.
5. n. Same as oliva, 1.
6. n. A perforated plate in the strap of a satchel or traveling-bag, through which the stud or button passes to fasten it.
7. n. A long oval button over which loops of braid are passed as a fastening for cloaks, etc.
8. n. In anatomy, the olivary body of the medulla oblongata.
9. n. In conchology, an olive-shell.
10. n. In ornithology, the oyster-catcher, Hæmatopus ostrilegus.
11. n. One of various trees of other genera: in Europe, Elæagnus angustifolia, Rhus Cotinus, and Thymelæa Sanamunda (Daphne Thymelæa); in the West Indies, Bontia daphnoides, Ximenia Americana, Terminalia Buceras, and T. capitata; in India, Putranjiva Roxburghii.
12. Relating to the olive; of the color of the unripe olive; olivaceous; of a dull, somewhat yellowish green: also, of the color of the olive-tree, which in general effect is of a dull ashen-green, with distinctly silvery shading.
13. n. Elæocarpus cyaneus. Compare olive-nut.
14. n. Notelæa ovata. See dunga-runga and Notelæa.
15. n. The Queensland olive, Olea paniculata. See marblewood, 2.

Wiktionary

1. n. An evergreen tree, Olea europaea, cultivated since ancient times in the Mediterranean for its fruit and the oil obtained from it.
2. n. The small oval fruit of this tree, eaten ripe (usually black) or unripe (usually green).
3. n. The wood of the olive tree.
4. n. A dark yellowish-green color, that of an unripe olive.
5. n. anatomy An olivary body, part of the medulla oblongata.
6. n. A component of a plumbing compression joint; a ring which is placed between the nut and the pipe and compressed during fastening to provide a seal.
7. adj. Of a grayish green color, that of an unripe olive.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A tree (Olea Europæa) with small oblong or elliptical leaves, axillary clusters of flowers, and oval, one-seeded drupes. The tree has been cultivated for its fruit for thousands of years, and its branches are the emblems of peace. The wood is yellowish brown and beautifully variegated.
2. n. The fruit of the olive. It has been much improved by cultivation, and is used for making pickles. Olive oil is pressed from its flesh.
3. n. Prov. Eng., Prov. Eng. Any shell of the genus Oliva and allied genera; -- so called from the form. See Oliva.
4. n. Prov. Eng. The oyster catcher.
5. n. The color of the olive, a peculiar dark brownish, yellowish, or tawny green.
6. n. One of the tertiary colors, composed of violet and green mixed in equal strength and proportion.
7. n. (Anat.) An olivary body. See under Olivary.
8. n. (Cookery) A small slice of meat seasoned, rolled up, and cooked.
9. adj. Approaching the color of the olive; of a peculiar dark brownish, yellowish, or tawny green.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. evergreen tree cultivated in the Mediterranean region since antiquity and now elsewhere; has edible shiny black fruits
2. n. one-seeded fruit of the European olive tree usually pickled and used as a relish
3. n. hard yellow often variegated wood of an olive tree; used in cabinetwork
4. n. a yellow-green color of low brightness and saturation
5. n. small ovoid fruit of the European olive tree; important food and source of oil
6. adj. of a yellow-green color similar to that of an unripe olive