ivy

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈaɪvi/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ivi, inherited from Old English īfig,^[2][3][4] from Proto-West Germanic *ibah,^[5][6] related to Old High German ebah and ebahewi (modern German Efeu) and to the first part of Middle Low German iflōf and Dutch eiloof,^[7][8][9] whose second parts are the words for hay and leaf.^[8][9] The further origin is unknown.^[3][8][10] Merriam-Webster and Ayto mention a link with Latin ibex, as if "climber",^[11][6] but Liberman rejects it;^[12] he relates īfig to āfor (“pungent, bitter”), so that ivy was named as a bitter plant, the suffix -ig first meaning a place overgrown with it.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The climbing evergreen Hedera helix: early Old English, in the Erfurt Glossary;^[7] Barnhart dates Old English ifig to about 700, and Middle English ivi to about 1200.^[3]

Semantic evolution

An ivy bush hung outside a tavern was a sign that wine was sold there, from 1436 to 1612, ivy being sacred to Bacchus.^[7][5] The name spread to other climbing or creeping plants, with a qualifying word (1588), such as poison ivy, which in American English could be simply ivy (1788).^[7] The ivy-covered buildings of old universities gave Ivy as an adjective for academic life (1933)^[11] and the Ivy League of eight north-eastern American universities.^[5][6]

Timeline

• c. 700 – Old English ifig.^[3]
• c. 1200 – Middle English ivi.^[3]
• 1436 – a tavern's ivy bush.^[7]
• 1588 – other climbing plants.^[7]
• 1844 – the verb, to cover with ivy.^[7]
• 1933 – academic, collegiate.^[11]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An evergreen climbing plant (Hedera helix) with glossy lobed leaves, which clings to walls and trees by small roots.
2. Any of various other climbing or creeping plants, such as poison ivy or ground ivy.

Word family

• ivylike
• ivied
• Ivy League

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
7. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ a b Liberman, Anatoly (2008), An Analytic Dictionary of English Etymology: An Introduction, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press