olive

/ˈɒlɪv/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈɑːlɪv/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈä-liv -ləv/ (ame, mw)

olive — noun

  • olivesingular
  • olivesplural

1. a small oval fruit, green when young and turning black as it ripens, with a shar

1.名詞B1
釋義

a small oval fruit, green when young and turning black as it ripens, with a sharp salty taste; eaten whole or pressed to make cooking oil. The same word also names the silver-leaved tree it grows on, common around the Mediterranean.

例句

Nikos picked a black olive from the bowl and dropped it into his salad.

countable: a/an + olive (singular fruit)

The pizza was topped with feta cheese, sliced tomatoes, and a handful of green olives.

plural 'olives' as a food ingredient

文法句型

a/the olive

olives (plural)

用法筆記

The same word covers both the small fruit and the tree that bears it; context (especially the verb and surrounding nouns) tells you which. With 'pick', 'eat', 'pit', or 'press', the fruit is meant; with 'plant', 'grow', or 'shade', the tree is meant.

常見錯誤

❌I ate three olive on the pizza.
✅I ate three olives on the pizza.
💡'olive' is countable; use the plural 'olives' for more than one.
❌She pressed olive into oil.
✅She pressed olives into oil.
💡when you mean the fruit as raw material, use the plural.

2. a dull yellow-green colour, similar to the skin of an unripe olive fruit. Often

2.名詞B2
釋義

a dull yellow-green colour, similar to the skin of an unripe olive fruit. Often used as a quiet, natural-looking shade in clothing, paint, and military uniforms.

例句

Adina painted the spare bedroom a soft olive that calmed the whole room.

olive as a noun naming a colour

The army jacket had faded from a sharp olive to a dusty grey-green.

from olive to [other colour] — colour change

同義詞
  • olive green

    more explicit; specifies the green direction of the shade

  • khaki

    browner and dustier; common for army uniforms and trousers

文法句型

the colour olive

in olive

用法筆記

Often paired with another colour word for precision: 'olive green' (more green) or 'olive brown' (darker, earthier). 'Olive' alone is enough when the context is clearly about colour, e.g. paint chips, fabric swatches, or fashion.

常見錯誤

❌The walls were painted in olives.
✅The walls were painted olive.
💡when 'olive' names a colour it stays singular and uncountable; the plural means the fruit.

olive — adjective