In the Noah's Ark account, what did the dove bring back to Noah?

In the Noah's Ark account, the dove brought an olive leaf back to Noah. Genesis 8:11 says the dove returned in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf, showing Noah that the floodwaters had receded.

Noah first sent out a raven, which went back and forth. He then sent a dove, but it initially found nowhere to rest and returned to the ark. After waiting seven days, Noah sent it again, producing the olive-leaf sign; a later release did not bring the bird back.

The olive branch became a widely recognized symbol of peace and reconciliation, although the biblical passage’s immediate meaning is more specific: it signals that vegetation had reappeared and the land was becoming habitable.