olio

American  

[oh-lee-oh] / ˈoʊ liˌoʊ /

noun

plural

olios

1. a dish of many ingredients.

2. Informal. olla podrida.

3. a mixture of heterogeneous elements; hodgepodge.

4. a medley or potpourri, as of musical or literary selections; miscellany.

5. Theater.

   1. a specialty act performed downstage while the upstage set is changed.

   2. a performance, as a musical number, presented between scenes or acts.

   3. drop scene.

   4. a program of variety acts, especially the second half of a minstrel show.

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olio British  

/ ˈəʊlɪˌəʊ /

noun

1. a dish of many different ingredients

2. a miscellany or potpourri

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Etymology

Origin of olio

1635–45; < Spanish olla pot, stew < Latin olla, ōla pot, jar

Explanation

An olio is a hodgepodge of various things. The contents of your desk might be an olio of books and notebooks, uneaten snacks, the mini flashlight you found on the sidewalk, a golf ball, toothbrush and toothpaste, a Frisbee... An olio was originally, and still is, a Spanish or Latin American stew containing a variety of ingredients, such as sausage, perhaps other meats, tomatoes, chickpeas, and various other vegetables. The full name for this stew is olla podrida. The word olio came to be used for any collection of many kinds of different things, especially things that don't really seem to belong together or have anything in common. It can also describe a musical medley or a variety show.

Example Sentences

Caffè Panna in Manhattan serves a gelato con olio that features vanilla ice cream with Sicilian extra virgin olive oil.

From Salon • Apr. 20, 2024

“Louise’s former aglio e olio was a greasy mess with mushrooms, cheese, limp noodles,” it said.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 21, 2023

Our preschooler was famished, so we headed to the property’s Italian restaurant, where the attentive wait staff helped us match Sula’s wines with minestrone soup, insalata mista, pizza and spaghetti aglio e olio.

From New York Times • Mar. 2, 2020

While my parents made sure that I hadn’t poisoned my grandmother, I went back to the kitchen and whipped up a simple spaghetti aglio e olio, which I secretly preferred to chanterelles.

From The New Yorker • Nov. 18, 2019

Is there that o’er his French ragout, Or olio that wad staw a sow, Or fricassee wad mak her spew Wi’ perfect sconner, Looks down wi’ sneering, scornfu’ view On sic a dinner?

From The Complete Works of Robert Burns: Containing his Poems, Songs, and Correspondence. With a New Life of the Poet, and Notices, Critical and Biographical by Allan Cunningham by Burns, Robert