Different Terminologies for Olive in the Mediterranean

In English, the fruit that grows on an olive tree is called an olive. This article lists out the various ways that people in countries in the Mediterranean Basin write the word olive.

(As related articles, this article lists the various ways “olive oil” is written and this article lists the various ways that “olive mill” is written.)

Albania

Ulliri (Albanian) – Olive

Morocco

الزيتون (Arabic Standard) – Olive

Zaytun (Moroccan Arabic) – Olive

Spain

Aceituna, oliva (Spanish) – Olive

Tunisia — Tunisian Arabic (second most common language is French)

Tunisian Arabic can be written in either the Latin or Arabic scripts. (The majority of speakers write to each other using the Latin script; a minority of speakers write the dialect using the Arabic script)

Olive – Zitouna / زيتونة

Olives – Zitoun / زيتون

Olivia, olivier, olive (French) – Olive

Turkey (Türkiye)

Zeytin (Turkish) – Olive

(The above list is not comprehensive and will be added to over time)

Published on January 22, 2022