noun
ivy
EYE-vee
noun
1
A climbing or trailing evergreen plant (genus Hedera) that clings to walls, trees, and fences.
"Ivy had crept up the entire side of the old brick house."
"They planted ivy along the fence to hide the chain-link."
2
Informal: a member of the Ivy League, a group of prestigious old US universities.
"She turned down an Ivy for a smaller liberal-arts college."
How to Use Ivy
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishThe climbing evergreen vine you see covering old walls and trees, or (informally) an Ivy League school.
Common pairings
poison ivy
ivy-covered
creeping ivy
the Ivy League
Word Forms
ivies plural, Ivys plural, Ivies plural, Ivies plural
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Etymology
From Old English "īfig", an ancient Germanic plant name going back to a very old Indo-European root — the plant itself has been climbing walls in English for well over a thousand years.