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Ivy
Definitions
- 1 A unisex given name from English.
"Little Ivy's life, as the months pass on, is a quiet, uneventful one, but exceedingly happy withal: - - - "You have a strange name, my dear," the old lady says one day, and the child answers in her serious, old-fashioned way, "Yes, so everyone has always said. You know my mamma died when I was born, and papa named me that because he said that I came when his heart was all aching with sorrow, and twined around it and comforted him.""
- 2 A unisex given name from English.; A female given name from English; popular in the UK in the beginning of the 20th century.
- 3 A unisex given name from English.; A male given name from English. rare
"Ivy Andrews, Ivy Calvin, Ivy Lee"
- 4 A diminutive of the male given name Ivan. rare
"Ivy Olson, Ivy Williamson"
- 5 A surname from English.
- 1 Any of several woody, climbing, or trailing evergreen plants of the genus Hedera. countable, uncountable
"Hidden timber elements, lintels and roof tiles have also been replaced, in addition to gaining a new paint job and guttering drainage, and the removal of ivy that was damaging the exterior."
- 2 A university that is part of the Ivy League. informal
- 3 Old World vine with lobed evergreen leaves and black berrylike fruits wordnet
- 4 Any similar plant of any genus. broadly, countable, uncountable
Etymology
From Middle English ivi, from Old English īfiġ, from Proto-West Germanic *ibig, *ibag, *ibah, from Proto-Germanic *ibahs (compare West Flemish iefte, Low German Eiloov, Ieloof, German Efeu), from Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)ebʰ- (compare Welsh efwr (“black elder”), Ancient Greek ἴφυον (íphuon, “spike-lavender, Lavandula Spica”)).
From ivy, the name of a plant. An ivy branch used to be hung outside an establishment to advertise that it sold alcohol, so it may originally been an occupationational surname for the proprietor of such an establishment.
Ellipsis of Ivy League.
See also for "ivy"
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