holly

See also: Holly and holy

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 *ḱel- (“to cut”).

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

• Christmas holly (Ilex aquifolium)
• common holly (Ilex aquifolium)
• English holly (Ilex aquifolium)
• European holly (Ilex aquifolium)
• false holly (Osmanthus heterophyllus)
• holly bay (Gordonia lasianthus)
• Holly Hills
• holly laurel (Prunus ilicifolia)
• holly-leaf oak (Quercus ilicifolia)
• holly-leaved oak (Quercus ilicifolia)
• Holly Oak (Delaware)
• holly oak (Quercus ilex)
• holly olive (Osmanthus heterophyllus)
• holly osmanthus (Osmanthus heterophyllus)
• holly rose (Turnera ulmifolia)
• Hollywood
• Mount Holly
• sea holly

 

Translations

any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Ilex

• Asturian: acebu m
• 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
• 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
• Navajo: didzéłchííʼ
• Norman: housse m (Jersey)
• Norwegian: kristtorn m
• Occitan: grefuèlh (oc) m, agrèvol (oc), agreu (oc), grifol (oc)
• Old English: holen m
• 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
• 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

Etymology 1

Adjective

holly

1. Alternative form of holy (sacred)

References

• “holi, adj. (2)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 4 August 2018.

Etymology 2

Adjective

holly

1. Alternative form of holy (porous)

References

• “holi, adj. (1)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 4 August 2018.