Olive

Medieval form of the Latin saint's name Oliva "olive"; revived in the 19th century when flower and plant names became fashionable. The surname is topographical, often representing an Anglicization of continental European surnames such as Spanish Oliva.

Olive

1. A female given name.
   • 1842 Alfred Tennyson, The Talking Oak:

     And hear me swear a solemn oath, / That only by thy side / Will I to Olive plight my troth, / And gain her for my bride.

   • 1850 Dinah Craik, Olive, Chapman and Hall, page 26:

     "Elspie, I have a thought! The baby shall be christened Olive!"

     "It's a strange, heathen name, Mrs. Rothesay."

     "Not at all. Listen how I chanced to think of it. This very morning, just before you came to waken me, I had such a queer, delicious dream. [ - - - ] Then I looked up, after awhile, and saw standing at the foot of the bed a little angel—a child-angel—with a green olive-branch in its hand. [ - - - ] "

   • 2006 Alice Munro, The View from Castle Rock, Chatto & Windus, →ISBN, pages 227-228:

     There was Olive, a soft drowsy girl who didn't like me because I called her Olive Oyl. Even after I was made to apologize she didn't like me.

2. A surname​.
3. (rare) A male given name.

• Olivia

• lovie, voile

From English Olive.

Olive

1. a female given name

From Middle High German olīve, borrowed from Latin oliva.[1]

• IPA^(key): /oˈliːvə/
• IPA^(key): /oˈliːfə/ (Austrian)

• Audio

  (file)

Olive f (genitive Olive, plural Oliven)

1. olive (fruit)

• Olive in Duden online