🫒 A small fruit 🟩 A green shade 🌳 A fruit tree 🟩 Yellow-green color 🪵 A hard wood

olive

204 1.0

A small oval fruit, green or black, from a tree used for food and oil

noun
/ˈɑːlɪv/

: aceituna

On this island, there is no bread, no wine, no olive oil, no tools, and no clothing.
olive oil
fruits and olives
pick olives

All that it is is garlic, chili, anchovies, olives, capers and pasta.

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Examples

Ooh, I think I'll have an olive.

The Chateau Meroux (2011)
The northern part of Tunisia has a Mediterranean-type climate, producing large quantities of olive oil, fruit, and vegetables.

Academic text (2003)
- Local olive oil is pretty good.

Destination Love (2022)
Two figures pick the olives in the olive trees, a woman and a man.

Academic text (1993)
And the combination of olive and hummus is just so good.

Molly Burke
Whenever they finish a tin of olives, they fill it with earth and plant something new in it.

Fiction book (1993)
And I also needed refried beans and olives and chickpeas.

Aspyn Ovard
I love adding an olive to my salad for extra flavor.
The chef recommended using fresh olives in the pasta dish.
For the appetizer, we served olives alongside cheese and bread.

Synonyms

black olive

vsolive

5 1.4

A ripe dark olive preserved in salt water or oil and used in cooking

is any small oval fruit from the tree not only dark preserved ones

green olive

vsolive

2 2.1

A small unripe olive kept in salty water and often eaten as a snack or on salads

is the general small oval fruit eaten fresh or made into oil

ripe olive

vsolive

1 2.1

An olive picked when fully ripe and kept for eating

is harvested at any stage for eating or oil production

Kalamata olive

vsolive

1 3.5

A dark purple olive with an almond shape from Greece used in salads

is the common small oval fruit not limited to one variety or origin

Idioms

to extend an olive branch

Informal

2 4.2

Offer to make peace after an argument

Compounds

olive oil

126 1.0

A liquid made by pressing olives used for cooking and salads

olive branch

Informal

12 3.7

A gesture showing a wish to make peace after a disagreement

olive tree

8 1.4

A small tree that keeps its leaves all year and makes olives for food and oil

black olive

5 1.4

A ripe dark olive preserved in salt water or oil and used in cooking

green olive

2 2.1

A small unripe olive kept in salty water and often eaten as a snack or on salads

olive juice

1 2.7

A liquid that comes from olives used in cooking or drinks

Kalamata olive

1 3.5

A dark purple olive with an almond shape from Greece used in salads

ripe olive

1 2.1

An olive picked when fully ripe and kept for eating

olive drab

1 5.1

A dull green-brown color often used for military clothes and gear

olive-colored

1 3.7

A yellow-green color like green olives

olive-drab

1 6.3

A light brownish-green color that you see on military uniforms

olive green

1 2.4

A dark yellowish green color like leaves and army uniforms

California olive

Specialized

8.8

A coastal tree with fragrant leaves, small clusters of creamy flowers, and olive-like fruit

desert olive

9.5

A spiny desert shrub that makes small pale flowers and black berries

American olive

8.4

A small tree from the southern United States that has white flowers and dark purple fruit

European olive tree

3.2

An evergreen tree that grows in the Mediterranean and produces olives for food and oil

Russian olive

8.4

A small tree or bush with silvery leaves, small yellow fruits, and sometimes thorns

olive brown

4.2

A brown color with a small touch of green like olives

olive-drab uniform

6.1

A United States Army uniform made of dull green cloth

olive-gray

6.0

A gray color with a hint of olive green

olive-green

2.9

A yellowish green color slightly lighter than dark green

olive family

Specialized

5.6

A group of flowering trees and shrubs like olive, jasmine, and lilac

olive ridley

Specialized

7.3

A small sea turtle with an olive-colored shell that often nests in large groups on beaches

olive-brown

3.0

A brown color with a greenish tinge like green olives

olive-sized

3.7

About the size of an olive

olive-tree agaric

9.9

A red mushroom that glows faintly and grows on olive trees

wild olive

Indian

8.9

A shrub or climbing plant with small red fruits like olives

How Ripe

black olive

5 1.4

ripe olive

1 2.1

olive

204 1.0

green olive

2 2.1

Surface Forms

olive singular

olives plural

Etymology

Olive The word olive for the small, oval fruit comes from Latin oliva and Greek elaia, names used around the Mediterranean for the tree and its fruit, so 'olive' means the edible fruit we eat or press for oil.