# holly

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈhɒli/ · frequency rank #8,555

## Definitions
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. Any of several not closely related plant species likened to Ilex because of their prickly, evergreen foliage and/or round, bright-red berries

## Etymology
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”).

## Easily confused with
- **hoy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holly-vs-hoy)
- **holy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holly-vs-holy)
- **hull** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holly-vs-hull)
- **holt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holly-vs-holt)
- **howl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holly-vs-howl)
- **holm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holly-vs-holm)
- **honey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holly-vs-honey)
- **horny** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holly-vs-horny)
- **howdy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holly-vs-howdy)
- **hotly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holly-vs-hotly)
- **hulls** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holly-vs-hulls)
- **honky** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holly-vs-honky)
- **howls** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holly-vs-howls)
- **homey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holly-vs-homey)
- **hoppy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holly-vs-hoppy)
- **Hoyle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holly-vs-hoyle)
- **hourly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holly-vs-hourly)
- **homely** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holly-vs-homely)
- **homily** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holly-vs-homily)
- **Holtby** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holly-vs-holtby)

## Common misspellings (5)
`hholly`, `hloly`, `hollyy`, `holyl`, `ohlly`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/holly