Etymologically
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olivetum

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 01:40. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɔ.liːˈweː.tũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [o.liˈvɛː.tum][1]

Forms

olīvētum n (genitive olīvētī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin olīva (“olive”) + -ētum, and the TLL calls it a newer and clearer form than olētum.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Cato.[4] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a plantation of olives, an olive grove, as in Cicero's quō plūris sint nostra olīvēta “so that our olive groves may be worth more”.[2][5][6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means olive grove, and Olīvētum is the Mount of Olives.[7][8] It survives as Italian oliveto.[1]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it.[4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An olive grove.[2][5]
  2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The Mount of Olives.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press