What is "holly"

Holm \Holm\ (h[=o]m; 277), n. [OE., prob. from AS. holen holly; as the holly is also called holm. See Holly.] (Bot.) A common evergreen oak, of Europe ( Quercus Ilex); -- called also ilex, and holly.

mid-15c., earlier holin (mid-12c.), shortening of Old English holegn "holly," from Proto-Germanic *hulin- (cognates: Old Saxon, Old High German hulis, Old Norse hulfr, Middle Dutch huls, Dutch, German hulst "holly"), cognate with Middle Irish cuilenn, Welsh celyn, Gaelic cuilionn "holly," probably all from PIE root *kel- (5) "to prick" (cognates: Old Church Slavonic kolja "to prick," Russian kolos "ear of corn"), in reference to its leaves. French houx "holly" is from Frankish *huls or some other Germanic source.

n. 1 Any of various shrubs or (mostly) small trees, of the genus ''Ilex'', either evergreen or deciduous, used as decoration especially at Christmas. 2 The wood from this tree. 3 (context with a qualifier English) Any of several unrelated plant species likened to ''Ilex'' because of their prickly, evergreen foliage and/or round, bright-red berry

1. n. any tree or shrub of the genus Ilex having red berries and shiny evergreen leaves with prickly edges

2. United States rock star (1936-1959) [syn: Buddy Holly, Charles Hardin Holley]

Holly is a genus of about 400 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae.

Holly may also refer to:

Holly is a fictional character in the science fiction situation comedy Red Dwarf. The character has been played by Norman Lovett (series I, II, VII, VIII) and Hattie Hayridge (series III, IV, V).

Holly is a 2006 drama film about an American stolen artifacts dealer in Cambodia who tries to save a young girl from child traffickers. The film was directed by Guy Moshe, and stars Ron Livingston, Chris Penn (in his final film appearance), and Thuy Nguyen.

Shot on location in Cambodia, it includes many scenes in actual brothels in the notorious red light district of Phnom Penh.

Holly is the debut album from Canadian singer-songwriter Justin Nozuka. The album was named after his mother Holly. It was first released on March 19, 2007 in the United Kingdom and April 3, 2007 in Canada. It was then released in the United States on April 15, 2008 by Glassnote Records, peaking at numbers 6 and 30 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers and Independent Albums charts. To promote the album, Nozuka toured across North America with appearances at talk shows.

Ilex , or holly, is a genus of 400 to 600 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. The species are evergreen or deciduous trees, shrubs, and climbers from tropics to temperate zones worldwide.

Holly is an English-language surname and given name.

Holly is a special name and known as As an English or Irish surname (variant Holley) it is either locational, ultimately derived an Old English hol lēah "[dwelling by] the clearing by the hollow", or descriptive, from hol-ēage "hollow-eyed". In Ireland, it was also used as a translation of the name Mac Cuilinn, which is derived from cuileann, the Gaelic name of the holly tree, and by extension sometimes of the similar sounding McQuillan surname of Ulster. The masculine names Holly, Hollie were derived from the surname, but have mostly fallen out of use since the mid 20th century due to the rise in popularity of the feminine name. Hollis is an English surname derived from a Middle English holis "[dwelling by] holly trees"; it was also used as a masculine given name.

Holly (variant Hollie) was first used as a feminine given name in the 20th century, as a "botanical" girl's name, in reference to, or at least secondarily associated with, the holly tree. While the feminine name is on record in the United States since the 1930s, its surge in popularity was due to Holly Golightly, the socialite protagonist in Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958), which was made into a film starring Audrey Hepburn in 1961. The name of this character is stated to be short for Holiday (rather than a reference to the plant). The name peaked in popularity in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s, and has declined since, ranking at #380 in the United States as of 2009. It was popularly given in England and Wales during the 2000s, staying in the top 30 girls' names throughout 1996–2012, with a peak at rank #12 in 2002 (and dropping to rank #33 as of 2013). A tendency to give the name to girls born on or near Christmas has also been observed. More recent eccentric spellings of the feminine name include Holli (1970s), Holleigh, Hollee, Hollye.

The Holly Motor Company of Mount Holly, New Jersey was founded in 1913 from the left-overs of the Otto-Gas Engine Company.

"Holly" is a song written by Craig Smith and performed by Andy Williams. The song reached #4 on the adult contemporary chart and #113 on the Billboard chart in 1967.