olive family
- noun
- /ˈɑːlɪv ˈfæmɪli/
- Specialized
:
familia del olivo
- Many trees in the olive family, like privets and lilacs, are popular in gardens.
Examples
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Jasmines are part of the olive family and are known for their sweet scent.
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It is in the olive family and the, the tree just produces these beautiful fragrant yellow flowers as you're seeing.
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The olive family includes various plants that produce berries and flowers.
Synonyms
A family of flowering plants like olive, ash, jasmine, privet, and lilac
A group of trees and bushes including olive, ash, jasmine, and lilac that produce olives or small fruits
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase 'olive family' is a straightforward noun–noun combination meaning the taxonomic family that includes olives; a learner who knows 'olive' and 'family' (as a scientific grouping) can readily infer this. This compositional pattern (modifier noun + head noun indicating a group) is common cross‑linguistically and follows standard English phrase formation, so the meaning is transparent.
Etymology
The noun olive family comes from naming a group of related plants after the well-known olive, so you can picture the olive as one member of the family. These plants have similar flowers and fruit, so the phrase means 'a group of related trees and shrubs'.
