holm-oak
(ˈhəʊməʊk)
[f. holm2 + oak.]
The evergreen oak (Quercus Ilex), a native of Italy and other Mediterranean countries; so called from the resemblance of its dark evergreen foliage to that of the holly.
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal iii. xxx. 1159 The Ilex..might be called Holme Oke, Huluer Oke, or Holly Oke, for difference from the shrub or hedge tree Agrifolium, which is simply called Holme, Holly, and Huluer. 1599 Thynne Animadv. (1875) 47 The Cerrus, being the tree whiche we comonly call the ‘holme oke’ (as Cooper also expoundeth the Ilex to be that whiche wee call holme.) 1770 Langhorne Plutarch (1879) I. 8/1 ægeus gave a scarlet sail dyed with the juice of the flower of a very flourishing holm-oak. 1837 Longfellow Frithiof's Homestead 19 A table of holm-oak, Polished and white, as of steel. |
| attrib. 1830 tr. Aristoph. Acharn. 29 The sparks..leap aloft from the holm-oak embers. |