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Holly

//ˈhɑli// name, noun

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A female given name from English.

    "Grandma said, "I used to know a little girl called Holly - she always had her dresses trimmed with red or green." Milly-Molly-Mandy thought that was quite a nice name."

  2. 2
    A topographic surname from Middle English.
  3. 3
    A male given name transferred from the surname. rare
  4. 4
    A place in the United States:; A town in Prowers County, Colorado, named after cattleman Hiram S. Holly.
  5. 5
    A place in the United States:; A township and village therein, in Oakland County, Michigan.
Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    A place in the United States:; A township in Murray County, Minnesota, named after settler John Z. Holly.
  2. 7
    A place in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Houston County, Texas.
  3. 8
    A place in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Kitsap County, Washington, named for a large holly tree.
  4. 9
    A place in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Kanawha County, West Virginia.
Noun
  1. 1
    Any of various shrubs or (mostly) small trees, of the genus Ilex, either evergreen or deciduous, used as decoration especially at Christmas. countable, uncountable

    "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. 2
    any tree or shrub of the genus Ilex having red berries and shiny evergreen leaves with prickly edges wordnet
  3. 3
    The wood from this tree. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    Any of several not closely related plant species likened to Ilex because of their prickly, evergreen foliage and/or round, bright-red berries countable, uncountable

Etymology

Etymology 1

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”).

Etymology 2

* As an Irish surname, calque of mac cuilinn (“holly”) (see McCullen) and sometimes McQuillan. * As an English surname, variant of Holley. * As a Czech and Slovak surname, variant of Holý, Holy. * Also as a locational English surname, from Old English hol leah (“wood, clearing, meadow”), compare Hollywood. * Also as an English surname, short form of Holiday. * Also as an English surname, after the holly tree. * As a feminine given name popularized by Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's (especially the 1961 film adaptation starring Audrey Hepburn).

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