olive

Etymology

From Middle English olyve, from Old French olive (“olive, olive tree”), from Latin olīva (“olive”), from Etruscan *𐌄𐌋𐌄𐌉𐌅𐌀 (*eleiva) or Proto-Greek *ἐλαίϝα (*elaíwa), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *loiwom (compare Old Church Slavonic лои (loi, “tallow”), Old Armenian եւղ (ewł, “oil”)). Doublet of oliva. Displaced native Old English eleberġe, literally "oil berry."

noun

1. A tree, Olea europaea, cultivated since ancient times in the Mediterranean for its fruit and the oil obtained from it.
2. The small oval fruit of this tree, eaten ripe (usually black) or unripe (usually green).
3. The wood of the olive tree.
4. A dark yellowish-green color, that of an unripe olive.
   olive:
5. (neuroanatomy) An olivary body, part of the medulla oblongata.
6. 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. (cooking) A small slice of meat seasoned, rolled up, and cooked.
   a beef olive
   olives of veal
8. Any shell of the genus Oliva and allied genera; so called from the shape.
9. (UK, dialect) An oystercatcher, a shore bird.

adj

1. Of a grayish green color, that of an unripe olive.
   Appleby[…]rose from his seat when Morales came in. He shook hands urbanely, unbuckled his sword, and laid his kepi on the table, and then sat down with an expression of concern in his olive face which Appleby fancied was assumed. 1907, Harold Edward Bindloss, chapter 22, in The Dust of Conflict
   The “little green men”—faces covered, wearing unmarked olive uniforms, speaking Russian and using Russian weapons—have played a significant role in both the occupation of Crimea and the civil war in eastern Ukraine.¹⁹⁶ 2015, Shane R. Reeves, David Wallace, “The Combatant Status of the “Little Green Men” and Other Participants in the Ukraine Conflict”, in International Law Studies, US Naval War College, volume 91, number 361, Stockton Center for the Study of International Law, page 393