olive

Forms

olive f (plural olives)^[1] Anglo-Norman olyve and olyf.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin olīva (“olive tree, olive”).^[3][4][1] Rey takes the Latin word from Ancient Greek ἐλαία (elaía), borrowed from a dialect that still had the digamma, and the Greek word from a Mediterranean language;^[5] Greek ἔλαιον (élaion, “olive oil”) is the source of huile through Latin.^[5]

Bloch and Wartburg say the form stayed in contact with that of Occitan,^[6] and Meyer-Lübke takes the French word from Occitan oliva.^[7] The Grand Robert also cites the Provençal form.^[8] Cognate with Spanish oliva and Italian oliva.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) it means the olive tree, in branche d'olive “olive branch”;^[3][9] the fruit is first named in the Dialogues of Saint Gregory, about 1200.^[3][10]

Semantic evolution

The sense “olive tree” was frequent until the 16th century; it survives only in poetry, in rameau d'olive, and in the biblical jardin des Olives and montagne des Olives.^[3][5] The tree came to be called olivier, attested as oliver as early as the end of the 10th century, which suggests that olive itself is older than its first record.^[5]

From its shape the word named oblong, rounded objects: an architectural ornament (1694), a sea snail (1801, Lamarck) and, in anatomy, an eminence of the medulla (1878).^[3][5] From the colour of the green olive it became an invariable colour adjective (1699), as in vert olive, and a noun for the colour.^[3][5][11]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – The Chanson de Roland uses it for the olive tree.^[3]
• c. 1200 – First used of the fruit.^[3]
• 16th century – The sense “olive tree” grows rare outside poetry.^[3][5]
• 1694 – Thomas Corneille records it for an architectural ornament.^[3][10]
• 1699 – A royal inventory uses it as a colour adjective.^[3][11]
• 1801 – Lamarck uses it for a mollusc.^[3]
• 1878 – First anatomical use.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An olive, the fruit of the olive tree, from which oil is pressed.^[12][9]
2. (poetic, dated) The olive tree, or an olive branch as a symbol of peace.^[3][9]
3. An olive-shaped object: an ornament in architecture, a small switch on an electric cord, a mechanical part.^[12]
4. (anatomy) An eminence on the side of the medulla or of the cerebellum.^[12]
5. (zoology) A gastropod with an oval shell.^[12]

Adjective

1. Olive-green, of a green verging on brown (invariable): vert olive.^[12][3]

Word family

• olivaison
• olivette
• olivier

Related words

• huile
• Latin olīva

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 346b
5. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
12. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert