holly
nouncommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈhɒli//
- United Kingdom//ˈhɔlɪj//
- United States//ˈhɑli//
- Scotland//ˈhɔle//
- Scotland//-lɪ//
Any of various shrubs or (mostly) small trees, of the genus Ilex, either evergreen or deciduous, used as decoration especially at Christmas.
noun
- 1
Any of various shrubs or (mostly) small trees, of the genus Ilex, either evergreen or deciduous, used as decoration especially at Christmas.
We'll deck the halls with boughs of holly.
Have a tree or two the witches particularly like, such as the alder, larch, cypress and hemlock; then, to counteract any possible evil effects, there must be a holly, yew, hazel, elder, mountain ash or juniper.
- 2
The wood from this tree.
- 3
Any of several not closely related plant species likened to Ilex because of their prickly, evergreen foliage and/or round, bright-red berries
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”).
Forms
- plural
- hollies
holly · Any of various shrubs or (mostly) small trees, of the genus Ilex, either evergreen or deciduous, used as decoration especially at Christmas.
Holly · A female given name from English.Hollywood · A neighbourhood of Los Angeles, California, known as the…holmes · An informal term of address, like man or dude.