Olibanum. A gum-resin used for incense.
Oliphant, A.S. An elephant; hence a hunting-horn of ivory.
Olive. A blue-grey colour; violet mixed with green.
Olive(-tree). (1) In Christian art, the emblem of peace and concord, and frequent on early Christian tombs in the catacombs, with or without the dove. (2) Arch. Its leaf was introduced into sculpture by the ancients, in wreaths or garlands. The Corinthian order is enriched with olive-leaves, as are almost all the antiques at Rome of this order. (3) R. The corona oleagina, an honorary wreath made of olive-leaves, was conferred by the Romans on soldiers and commanders through whose instrumentality a triumph had been obtained when they were not personally present in the action. (4) Gr. It was the olive-tree that Minerva caused to spring from the ground in the citadel at Athens. (5) The colour and grain of the wood, and of the root portion especially, are very beautiful, and valuable for decorative and cabinet-work.
Olivette. A Flemish name for poppy oil.
Olivine. A variety of chrysolite of a dark green, commonly called bottle-green colour.
Olla, R. An earthenware vessel of very common make. It resembled our flower-pots, but had swelling sides, and was covered with a lid. It was used for cooking meat and vegetables and for preserving grapes (uva ollaria), and as a cinerary urn (olla ossuaria or cineraria). Hence—
Olla-podrida, Sp. A stew of meat and vegetables mixed, common in Spain. The word is used to describe any other incongruous mixture.
Ollarium, R. A niche in a sepulchral chamber, in which the olla ossuaria was placed. (See Cinerarium, Fig. [160].)
Olpê, Gr. (ὄλπη). A kind of aryballos with a curved handle, but no spout (originally a leather oil-flask).