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Definition: olive from Philip's Encyclopedia

Tree, shrub or vine and its fruit, especially the common olive tree, Olea europaea, native to the Mediterranean region. It has leathery, lance-shaped leaves, a gnarled and twisted trunk and may live for more than 1,000 years. The fruit is bitter and inedible before processing and is also used to make olive oil. Height: to 9m (30ft). Family Oleaceae.

olive

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
common name for the Oleaceae, a family of trees and shrubs (including climbing forms) of warm temperate climates and of the Old World tropics, especially Asia and the East Indies. Many are popular ornamentals, particularly the lilac ( Syringa ), true jasmine ( Jasminum ), privet ( Ligustrum ), and forsythia genera; none of these has species native to the United States. Several indigenous species of ash ( Fraxinus ) are valuable for timber in North America. The true olive ( Olea europaea ) is the source of the fruit also called olive and of olive oil; it is the most commercially important member of the family. The olive tree, a small evergreen, has been cultivated since the beginning of historical times in its native Asia Minor. Its cultivation spread very early to all the Mediterranean countries, and this is still the chief area of production. It is now grown also in Australia, S Africa, Mexico, and California, where it was introduced (c.1769) at the San Diego mission by Spanish…
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Full text Article olives

From The Oxford Companion to Food
The fruit of the olive tree, Olea europaea , and the oil which it yields (see olive oil ), foods which originated in the Mediterranean region, are often thought of as symbolizing it. The importance of the olive tree and the veneration which it has aroused since prehistoric times are widely attested, …
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Full text Article olive

From The Chambers Dictionary
a tree ( Olea europaea ) cultivated round the Mediterranean for its oily fruit; extended to many more or less similar trees; the small oval stoned fruit of the olive tree, yellowish-green when unripe, ripening to a shiny black, with bitter-tasting flesh; a colour like the unripe olive; a person of…
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Full text Article olive

From The Deluxe Food Lover's Companion
olive
The olive branch has long been a symbol of peace, and the silvery-leaved olive tree has been considered sacred at least as far back as the 17th century B.C . Native to the Mediterranean area, the olive is a small, oily fruit that contains a pit. It's grown both for its fruit and its oil in…
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Full text Article Olive

From A Dictionary of Literary Symbols
Olive trees grow very slowly. Virgil speaks of the “fruit of the slowly growing olive” ( Georgics 2.3); Lope de Vega praises the “fruit so slow in maturing” (“O Fortune, pick me that olive”); Landor tersely follows with “slow olive” ( Gebir 3.306). Olive trees were therefore planted only in times of…
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Full text Article olive

From Library of Health and Living: The Encyclopedia of Nutrition and Good Health
Olive Source: Getty Images.
The oil-rich fruit of a semitropical evergreen adapted to hot, dry climates. Olives were probably first cultivated in the Eastern Mediterranean region as early as 6000 BCE . There are now more than 60 varieties. Mediterranean countries remain major producers; together, Italy and Spain produce more…
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From Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
In ancient Greece the olive was sacred to athene , in allusion to the story that at the naming of Athens she presented it with an olive branch. It was the symbol of peace and fecundity, and brides wore or carried an olive garland, as British brides often do a wreath of orange blossom . A crown of…
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Full text Article olive

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
common name for the Oleaceae, a family of trees and shrubs (including climbing forms) of warm temperate climates and of the Old World tropics, especially Asia and the East Indies. Many are popular ornamentals, particularly the lilac ( Syringa ), true jasmine ( Jasminum ), privet ( Ligustrum ), and…
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From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Subtropical, broad-leaved tree ( Olea europaea ) or its edible fruit. The olive was being grown on the island of Crete c. 3500 bc , and Semitic peoples apparently were cultivating it as early as 3000 bc . Its cultivation was important to the ancient Greeks and Romans and spread to all the countries…
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Full text Article Olives

From Encyclopedia of World Trade: From Ancient Times to the Present Full text Article A-Z Entries
A Greek vase dating to the sixth century B.C.E....
An important agricultural commodity in the ancient Mediterranean, particularly during the Greco-Roman period. While only a small part of contemporary world trade, in antiquity, olives and olive oil were a mainstay of trade in the Mediterranean world. Along with wine, they were one of the chief…
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From The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization
The olive is probably native to the Mediterranean region. It is long-lived and highly drought-resistant, though sensitive to frost, and thrives best at relatively low altitudes. Olives generally only crop every other year, and usually trees are regionally synchronized. Despite the attempts of…
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