Meaning & use
French picholine olive tree
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Meanings
nouncountable
A small evergreen tree of the picholine variety, grown mainly in southern France for its green olives.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a French picholine olive tree or two French picholine olive trees.
Patterns
- plant a French picholine olive tree
- a grove of French picholine olive trees
They planted a French picholine olive tree at the sunny end of the garden.
A mature French picholine olive tree can live for hundreds of years.
The nursery sells young French picholine olive trees in large pots.
nouncountable
The fruit-bearing plant whose green olives are picked early and cured for eating or pressing into oil.
Grammar: Refers to the plant itself; for the fruit alone, say picholine olive.
Patterns
- harvest olives from a French picholine olive tree
- prune a French picholine olive tree
Farmers in Provence harvest the French picholine olive tree in early autumn.
The French picholine olive tree produces firm olives that hold their shape after curing.
Cold winters can damage a young French picholine olive tree.
Word forms
| plural | French picholine olive trees |
|---|
Common combinations
- a grove of French picholine olive trees
- The hillside is covered with a grove of French picholine olive trees.
- grow a French picholine olive tree
- It is not easy to grow a French picholine olive tree in a cold climate.
- a young French picholine olive tree
- A young French picholine olive tree needs protection from frost.
- the French picholine olive tree harvest
- The French picholine olive tree harvest begins in September.
- prune a French picholine olive tree
- You should prune a French picholine olive tree in late winter.
Synonyms and how they differ
- picholine tree
- Shorter and used when the French origin is already clear from the context.
- olive tree
- More general; it does not show which variety is meant.
Word family
Commonly confused: French picholine olive tree or picholine? French picholine olive tree or piccalilli?
French picholine olive tree vs picholine
Picholine is the variety name; the full phrase French picholine olive tree refers to the whole plant, not just the fruit.
French picholine olive tree vs piccalilli
Piccalilli sounds similar but is a pickled vegetable relish, not an olive variety.
Practice
Which sentence uses the term correctly?
Choose one answer.
The phrase names a tree, so it fits planting and growing. Options 1 and 3 describe the fruit, and option 4 describes the oil, so the tree word is wrong there.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “French picholine olive tree”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.