ivy
/ˈaɪvi/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.83 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
2
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Any of several woody, climbing, or trailing evergreen plants of the genus Hedera.
Countable; Uncountable
name
A unisex given name from English.
name
A unisex given name from English.
name
A unisex given name from English.
name
A diminutive of the male given name Ivan.
name
A surname from English.
Example Sentences
- "Hidden timber elements, lintels and roof tiles have also been replaced, in addition to gaining a new paint job and guttering drainage, and the removal of ivy that was damaging the exterior."
- "Little Ivy's life, as the months pass on, is a quiet, uneventful one, but exceedingly happy withal: - - - "You have a strange name, my dear," the old lady says one day, and the child answers in her serious, old-fashioned way, "Yes, so everyone has always said. You know my mamma died when I was born, and papa named me that because he said that I came when his heart was all aching with sorrow, and twined around it and comforted him.""
- "Kind people apply all the milder words to your face; only Father ever called it ugly. Ugly Ivy mingy as her name. Father himself was handsome and drunken. Mother had wanted 'Ivy' simple and yet pretty and for once stuck to her guns. You wished she hadn't."
- "Ivy Andrews, Ivy Calvin, Ivy Lee"
- "Ivy Olson, Ivy Williamson"
Etymology
From Middle English ivi, from Old English īfiġ, from Proto-West Germanic *ibig, *ibag, *ibah, from Proto-Germanic *ibahs (compare West Flemish iefte, Low German Eiloov, Ieloof, German Efeu), from Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)ebʰ- (compare Welsh efwr (“black elder”), Ancient Greek ἴφυον (íphuon, “spike-lavender, Lavandula Spica”)).