Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A genus of trees and shrubs, of the natural order Ilicineæ, or holly tribe.
- noun [lowercase] A tree or shrub of this genus.
- noun The holm-oak or holly-oak, Quercus Ilex, the leaves of which somewhat resemble those of the genus Ilex. See cut (fig. 4) under oak, 1.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The holm oak (
Quercus Ilex ). - noun A genus of evergreen trees and shrubs, including the common holly.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun
holm oak (Quercus ilex) - noun Any of several
trees orshrubs of the genusIlex
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a large genus of dicotyledonous trees and shrubs of the family Aquifoliaceae that have small flowers and berries (including hollies)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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These include species of Fagaceae, in particular Quercus ilex, which is found only in the Northern Waziristan, Koh-i-Safed, and Chitral foothills, as well as east oleander (Nerium), tropical adhatoda, and Fraxinus xanthoxyloides.
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It is the only tree that the ancient world could have cared to notice; and if it were possible to carve statues of trees, I am sure that the ilex is the tree sculptors would choose.
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The crying need of all nature was for shade; for the ilex is a small-leaved tree giving a thin shadow with no cool depths amid the branches.
In Kedar's Tents Henry Seton Merriman 1882
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It is the dried leaves of a species of Patagonian ilex, which is used in this country as tea, and very delightful and soothing it is.
Our Home in the Silver West A Story of Struggle and Adventure Gordon Stables 1875
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"Sindiyán" (from the Persian) gen. used for the holm-oak, the Quercus pseudococcifera, vulgarly termed ilex, or native oak, and forming an extensive scrub in Syria, For this and other varieties of Quercus, as the Mallúl and the Ballút, see
Arabian nights. English Anonymous 1855
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Saxo, even to the hiding of a dog, whose name is given, in an "ilex," that it would be remarkable if there was no connection between Saxo's story and _Meriadoc_.
The Relation of the Hrolfs Saga Kraka and the Bjarkarimur to Beowulf A Contribution To The History Of Saga Development In England And The Scandinavian Countries Oscar Ludvig Olson
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But especially striking is the statement that Ivor's dog is concealed in a tree; and this tree is called "ilex" (holly-oak), the very word used by Saxo to designate the kind of hollow tree that Hroar and Helgi (he calls them
The Relation of the Hrolfs Saga Kraka and the Bjarkarimur to Beowulf A Contribution To The History Of Saga Development In England And The Scandinavian Countries Oscar Ludvig Olson
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In the Great Hall, Remco van Vliet inspected heaps of ilex berry, brown-backed magnolia and hydrangea flown in from Holland.
The Master Builder of Towers of Flowers Lauren Porcaro Dorment 2012
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Other seasonal berries include ilex winterberry, privet and, yes, holly.
Side-Table Sparkle 2011
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The “chêne vert” I planted in my front garden (holm oak) is called “Quercus ilex”.
rolig commented on the word ilex
"The house had, it is true, already in some ways the look of an institution, though of an expensive kind: it stood among pleasure-grounds dark with ilex, girt by a high flint wall." - Elizabeth Bowen, "The Inherited Clock," Ivy Gripped the Steps.
May 3, 2007
yarb commented on the word ilex
The profound shade of a giant ilex tree engulfed him. Like a great wooden octopus, it spread its long arms abroad.
- Aldous Huxley, Crome Yellow
March 29, 2008
jaime_d commented on the word ilex
From "C. Musonius Rufus" by Guy Davenport
January 19, 2010