ivy

[ahy-vee] /ˈaɪ vi/
noun, plural ivies.
1.
Also called English ivy. a climbing vine, Hedera helix, having smooth, shiny, evergreen leaves, small, yellowish flowers, and black berries, grown as an ornamental.
2.
any of various other climbing or trailing plants.
adjective
3.
(often initial capital letter) Ivy League (def 2).
4.
New England, mountain laurel.
Origin
before 900; Middle English ivi; Old English ifig; akin to German Efeu
Related forms
ivylike, adjective

Ivy

[ahy-vee] /ˈaɪ vi/
noun
1.
a female given name.
Examples from the web for ivy
  • Many years later, ivy would bear the brunt of his vindictiveness.
  • ivy had been his staunchest supporter and loyal helpmate, being a de facto single parent.
  • In this encounter, the riddler seeks shelter from ivy only to be humiliated.
  • Riddler and ivy then face off in a physical duel, which ivy wins easily.
British Dictionary definitions for ivy

ivy

/ˈaɪvɪ/
noun (pl) ivies
1.
any woody climbing or trailing araliaceous plant of the Old World genus Hedera, esp H. helix, having lobed evergreen leaves and black berry-like fruits
2.
any of various other climbing or creeping plants, such as Boston ivy, poison ivy, and ground ivy
Derived Forms
ivy-like, adjective
Word Origin
Old English īfig; related to Old High German ebah, perhaps to Greek iphuon a plant
Word Origin and History for ivy
n.

Old English ifig, from West Germanic *ibakhs (cf. Middle Low German iflof, Dutch eiloof, Old High German ebahewi, German Efeu), of unknown origin; the second element in the Old High German word might be "hay."

Ivy bush as a sign of a tavern where wine is served is attested from mid-15c. Ivy League, inspired by the notion of old, ivy-coated walls, dates to 1933 (perhaps originally in reference to football; it consists of Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Yale).

ivy in Technology


A language with a more pleasant syntax than Perl, tcl or Lisp. It has nice features like low punctuation count, blocks indicated by indentation, and similarity to normal procedural languages. This language started out as an idea for an extension language for the editor JOE.
An experimental interpreter by Joseph H Allen jhallen@world.std.com was posted to alt.sources on 28 Sep 1993.