olio

noun

ˈō-lē-ˌō 

plural olios

1

: olla podrida sense 1

The Spanish restaurant offered an olio containing a variety of ingredients.

2

a

: a miscellaneous mixture : hodgepodge

… an incredible bourgeois olio of fancy stonework, stained glass, and light-opera staircases …

—R. H. Rovere

b

: a miscellaneous collection (as of literary or musical selections)

This olio of broadsides, speeches, letters, poems, and other documents …

—S. R. Slaton

Synonyms

• agglomerate
• agglomeration
• alphabet soup
• assortment
• botch
• clutter
• collage
• crazy quilt
• farrago
• gallimaufry
• grab bag
• gumbo
• hash
• hodgepodge
• hotchpotch
• jambalaya
• jumble
• jungle
• litter
• macédoine
• medley
• mélange
• menagerie
• miscellanea
• miscellany
• mishmash
• mixed bag
• montage
• motley
• muddle
• olla podrida
• omnium-gatherum
• pastiche
• patchwork
• patchwork quilt
• potpourri
• ragbag
• ragout
• rummage
• salad
• salmagundi
• scramble
• shuffle
• smorgasbord
• stew
• tumble
• variety
• welter

Examples of olio in a Sentence

the performance was an old-fashioned olio of songs, dances, and puppetry

Word History

Etymology

modification of Spanish olla

First Known Use

circa 1842, in the meaning defined at sense 1