holly

holly

See also: Holly

English

leaves and berries of European holly (Ilex aquifolium)

Etymology

From Middle English holly, holi, holie, a shortened variation of holin, holyn (> English dialectal hollen, holm), from Old English holeġn, holen (“holly; prince, protector”), from Proto-West Germanic *hulis (“holly”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂- (“to beat, break”).

cognates

Cognate with Scots holin, hollin, holyn (“holly”), Dutch hulst (“holly”), German Hulst (“holly”), French houx ("holly" < Germanic), Danish hylver (“holly”), Welsh celyn (“holly”), Russian ко́лос (kólos, “ear of wheat”), Albanian kalli (“straw, chaff”), Latin culmus (“stalk, stem”), Sanskrit कटम्ब (kaṭamba, “arrow”), Old Church Slavonic класъ (klasŭ, “ear of grain”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈhɒli/
• Rhymes: -ɒli
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑli/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

holly (countable and uncountable, plural hollies)

1. Any of various shrubs or (mostly) small trees, of the genus Ilex, either evergreen or deciduous, used as decoration especially at Christmas.
2. The wood from this tree.
3. (with a qualifier) Any of several unrelated plant species likened to Ilex because of their prickly, evergreen foliage and/or round, bright-red berries

Derived terms

• American holly
• California holly
• Christmas holly (Ilex aquifolium)
• common holly (Ilex aquifolium)
• deciduous holly
• English holly (Ilex aquifolium)
• European holly (Ilex aquifolium)
• false holly (Osmanthus heterophyllus)
• holly barberry
• holly bay (Gordonia lasianthus)
• holly blue
• Holly Hills
• holly laurel (Prunus ilicifolia)
• holly-leaf oak (Quercus ilicifolia)
• holly-leaved barberry
• holly-leaved cherry
• holly-leaved oak (Quercus ilicifolia)
• Holly Oak (Delaware)
• holly oak (Quercus ilex)
• holly olive (Osmanthus heterophyllus)
• holly osmanthus (Osmanthus heterophyllus)
• holly rose (Turnera ulmifolia)
• Holly Springs
• Hollywood
• inkberry holly
• knee holly
• Michigan holly
• Mount Holly
• sea holly
• Singapore holly
• swamp holly
• winterberry holly

 

Translations

any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Ilex

Albanian: ashe (sq) f Arabic: بَهَشِيَّة‎ f (bahašiyya), إِيلِكْس‎ m (ʾīliks) Armenian: փշարմավ (hy) (pʿšarmav) Asturian: acebu m Azerbaijani: şümşə, pirkal Basque: gorosti Breton: kelenn (br) Bulgarian: джел m (džel), бодлива зеленика f (bodliva zelenika) Catalan: grèvol m Cherokee: ᎤᏍᏓᏍᏗ (usdasdi) Chinese: Mandarin: 冬青 (zh) (dōngqīng) Cornish: kelynnen f, kelyn f pl Czech: cesmína (cs) f Danish: kristtorn Dutch: hulst (nl) m Esperanto: ilekso Estonian: iileks, astelpõõsas Finnish: orjanlaakeri (fi) Franco-Provençal: agriblon m French: houx (fr) m Friulian: rafacon m Galician: acivro (gl) m, xardón (gl) m Georgian: ბაძგი (baʒgi), ჭყორი (č̣q̇ori) German: Stechpalme (de) f, Hülse (de) f, Stechhülse f, Hülsdorn m, Ilex (de) m Greek: ίλεξ f (ílex) Ancient: κήλαστρος f (kḗlastros) Hungarian: magyal (hu), krisztustövis (hu) Ido: ilexo (io) Irish: cuileann m or f, crann cuilinn m Italian: agrifoglio (it) m Japanese: 西洋柊 (セイヨウヒイラギ, seiyōhiiragi), (a certain species) 犬黄楊 (イヌツゲ, inutsuge), 黐の木 (モチノキ, mochinoki) Latin: acrifolium Lithuanian: bugienis Mingrelian: ბარცხინი (barcxini), ბარცხელი (barcxeli), ბაძგი (baʒgi) Navajo: didzéłchííʼ Norman: housse m (Jersey) Norwegian: kristtorn m Occitan: grefuèlh (oc) m, agrèvol (oc), agreu (oc), grifol (oc) Old English: holen m Ottoman Turkish: پرنال‎ (pırnal) Persian: کولخاس‎ (kulexâs) Polish: ostrokrzew (pl) m Portuguese: azevinho (pt) Quechua: wayusa, asiwu Romanian: ilice f, laur (ro) m Russian: па́дуб (ru) m (pádub), остроли́ст (ru) m (ostrolíst) Sardinian: alase m, golosti m, olosti, bolostru Scottish Gaelic: cuileann m, crann-cuilinn m, craobh-chuilinn f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: божи́ковина f Latin: božíkovina (sh) f Sicilian: addaurufogghiu (scn) m Slovak: cezmína (sk) f Slovene: bodíka f Spanish: acebo (es) m Svan: ბა̈რცხილ (bärcxil) Swedish: järnek (sv) Tagalog: asebo Ukrainian: па́дуб (pádub) Venetian: agrifoi m, spergol Welsh: celynen f, celyn f pl (collective)

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Middle English

Adjective

holly

1. Alternative form of holy (sacred)

Adjective

holly

1. Alternative form of holy (porous)

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Yola

Alternative forms

• holy

Etymology

From Middle English holly, from Old English hāliġ, from Proto-West Germanic *hailag.

Adjective

holly

1. holy
   • 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY:

     Hollydie.

     Holiday.

Derived terms

• hollydie

References

• Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 47