Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French, French olive olive tree (c1100), olive (c1200), type of mollusc (1801; compare sense A. 9), an olivary body (1878; compare sense A. 8) and its etymon classical Latin olīva olive, olive tree, olive branch < a variant (or early form) of ancient Greek ἐλαία (see elaeo- comb. form) that retained digamma (ϝ, /w/) at the onset of the final syllable (compare Mycenaean Greek e-ra-wa ); related to ancient Greek ἔλαιον (see oleum n.). Compare Spanish olivo (1147), Portuguese oliva (13th cent.), Italian oliva (1274; 1565 as adjective in sense B. 1), and also Middle Dutch olīve (Dutch olijf), Middle High German olīve (German Olive), Old Swedish oliva (Swedish oliv).With sense A. 5 compare Italian olivetta, in the same sense, although this is not attested before the 20th cent. Attested as a female forename in English documents from the early 13th cent. onwards (earliest in Latin form Oliva), as Olif (14th cent.), Olyff, Olyffe, Olive (16th cent.); compare also the surnames Olive, Oliffe, Olliffe.

Etymology: Origin uncertain; probably imitative of the bird's call, partly assimilated to the female forename Olive (see olive n.¹). Compare North Frisian liiw , Dutch regional (Wadden Islands; formerly also Zeeland) lieuw (1623; compare also Dutch regional bontelieuw , zeeliev , in which the first elements are respectively bonte pied (see bunting crow n.), and zee sea n.); see further W. B. Lockwood ‘Some British Bird Names’ in Trans. Philol. Soc. (1975) 181.There is probably no connection with Middle French, French olive olive n.¹, used to designate certain birds on account of their colour (e.g. ‘a type of bustard’ (16th cent.), ‘a type of bunting’ (1778)). It is unlikely that the name was ever associated with the name of St Olave (Olaf II, King of Norway, reigned 1016–28); compare quot. 1894.