Before the word olive was adopted from French in the thirteenth century, the olive was known in England as the eleberge, literally meaning oil-berry. For the ancient Greeks, the olive, which they called elaia, was likewise a kind of oilberry, so much so that they derived their word for oil from its name, calling it elaion. Both these Greek words were borrowed by Latin: elaia became the Latin oliva, while elaion became the Latin oleum. These words then passed through French as olive and oik before being adopted by English in the twelfth century. By that time, oil had come to mean any fluid pressed from a nut or seed, but the word was not applied to the thick, black fluid pumped out of the earth until about the nineteenth century. Prior to that, and as far back as the mid fourteenth century, mineral oils were called petroleum, a word that combines the Latin oleum with the Latin petra, meaning rock. Petroleum, therefore, is literally rock-oil.
The fruit of a tree, which gives an edible oil.
A swelling containing grey matter, on the side of the pyramid of the medulla oblongata.
A smooth oval swelling in the upper part of the medulla oblongata on each side. It contains a mass of nerve cells, mainly gray matter (olivary nucleus).
A diminutive, elliptical fruit with a firm pit, commonly pickled when still green to serve as a zesty condiment, or permitted to ripen to a softer, purplish-black hue for employment in both relishes and various cooked meals.
Originating from the olive tree, a fruit-bearing marvel that thrives in sun-kissed and balmy climates, notably in the Mediterranean region, we encounter the olive. With a myriad of distinct varieties, this fruit presents itself with a remarkable characteristic. Nestled within its flesh is a sizable and solitary pit, tightly embraced by the surrounding succulent flesh. The size of olives exhibits notable diversity, influenced by the specific variety they belong to. These remarkable fruits can be harvested when still green or left to mature fully, attaining a rich black hue.