olive

English 'olive' comes from Middle English olyve, from Old French olive, from Latin olīva. Latin likely borrowed the word from Etruscan *eleiva, or from a related Proto-Hellenic form, or from some shared source behind both — all ultimately tracing to a pre-Greek Mediterranean word, possibly Proto-Berber *wlw, meaning 'wild olive.'

The word's path stayed remarkably close to its object the whole way: from an ancient Mediterranean term for the wild tree, through Etruscan and Latin, into French and English, always naming the same fruit and tree.

'Olive' is a doublet of 'oliva' and 'oil' — all descending from the same Latin root, since olive oil was the oil of the ancient world. English once had its own word for it, eleberġe, literally 'oil berry,' before 'olive' replaced it.