Jesus goes with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane after the Last Supper. The familiar name itself preserves something of the agricultural landscape around Jerusalem.
Gethsemane is commonly connected with a Semitic expression meaning an oil press, appropriate to the Mount of Olives.
Olive cultivation was a major feature of the Mediterranean economy, and harvested olives were crushed and pressed to extract oil used for food, lighting, anointing, and other purposes. A place named for an oil press would be unsurprising in an olive-growing area.
The Gospels locate Gethsemane in connection with the Mount of Olives, while John speaks of a garden across the Kidron without using the name Gethsemane. The traditions are compatible geographically without requiring every Gospel to supply the same place-name.
The name anchors the arrest narrative in a real agricultural landscape rather than an abstract devotional setting. Jesus' prayer and arrest occur outside the city amid the olive-growing terrain east of Jerusalem.
The meaning 'oil press' can be appreciated as historical geography without turning it into an elaborate allegory that the Gospel writers themselves do not state.