holly
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holly¹
- /ˈhɒli/ UK
- /ˈhɔlɪj/ British, Southern, Standard
- /ˈhɑli/ US
- /ˈhɔle/ Scotland
- /-lɪ/ Scotland
- /-li/ Scotland
Rhymes with -ɒli
Where it comes from
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”).
noun hollies
- 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.
- The wood from this tree.
- Any of several not closely related plant species likened to Ilex because of their prickly, evergreen foliage and/or round, bright-red berries
Holly²
Where it comes from
* 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).
proper noun Hollie · Hollee · Holli · Hollye · Holley
- 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.
- A topographic surname from Middle English.
- A male given name transferred from the surname.
- A town in Prowers County, Colorado, named after cattleman Hiram S. Holly.
- A township and village therein, in Oakland County, Michigan.
- A township in Murray County, Minnesota, named after settler John Z. Holly.
- An unincorporated community in Houston County, Texas.
- An unincorporated community in Kitsap County, Washington, named for a large holly tree.
- An unincorporated community in Kanawha County, West Virginia.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: ilex, berried, hock, sweet, assi, okay, holi, john, woman, wife, holy, eric, allie, sam, paulie, ted
Translations
Every language
noun any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Ilex
| Español | acebo |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 西洋柊 seiyōhiiragi, 犬黄楊 inutsuge, 黐の木 mochinoki |
| 中文 | 冬青 dōngqīng |
| Português | azevinho |
| Français | houx |
| Deutsch | Stechpalme, Hulse, Hulst, Hülse, Stechhülse, Hülsdorn |
| Italiano | agrifoglio |
| Ελληνικά | ίλεξ ílex |
| Română | ilice, laur |
| Русский | па́дуб pádub, остроли́ст ostrolíst |
| العربية | بَهَشِيَّة bahašiyya, إِيلِكْس ʔīliks |
Talk about this word "holly." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/holly. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. holly. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/holly "holly." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/holly.Cite this
@misc{holly_2026,
title = {holly},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/holly},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
