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foliate

[adjective foh-lee-it, -eyt; verb foh-lee-eyt]
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adjective
  1. covered with or having leaves.
  2. like a leaf, as in shape.
  3. Also foliated. Architecture.
    1. ornamented with or composed of foil: foliate tracery.
    2. ornamented with representations of foliage: a foliate capital.
  4. Petrology, Mineralogy. foliated(def 2).
verb (used without object), fo·li·at·ed, fo·li·at·ing.
  1. to put forth leaves.
  2. to split into thin leaflike layers or laminae.
verb (used with object), fo·li·at·ed, fo·li·at·ing.
  1. to shape like a leaf or leaves.
  2. to decorate with foils or foliage.
  3. to form into thin sheets.
  4. to spread over with a thin metallic backing.
  5. Printing. to number the folios or leaves, as distinguished from pages, of (a manuscript or book).

Origin of foliate

First recorded in 1620–30, foliate is from the Latin word foliātus leafy. See folium, -ate1
Related formssub·fo·li·ate, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for foliate

Historical Examples

  • The geometric figures were largely supplanted by foliate forms.

    Oriental Rugs

    Walter A. Hawley

  • These floral or foliate designs are one of the most constant features of this class.

    Oriental Rugs

    Walter A. Hawley

  • It is housed in a tall case of dark-red mahogany veneered on oak, with restrained carving featuring ribands and foliate motifs.

  • This foliate structure is common to the coral and the plumage of birds, and to how large a part of animate and inanimate nature.

    Excursions and Poems

    Henry David Thoreau

  • Foliate designs cover the grisaille lights of the triforium.

    How France Built Her Cathedrals

    Elizabeth Boyle O'Reilly

British Dictionary definitions for foliate

foliate

adjective (ˈfəʊlɪɪt, -ˌeɪt)
    1. relating to, possessing, or resembling leaves
    2. in combinationtrifoliate
  2. (of certain metamorphic rocks, esp schists) having the constituent minerals arranged in thin leaflike layers
verb (ˈfəʊlɪˌeɪt)
  1. (tr) to ornament with foliage or with leaf forms such as foils
  2. to hammer or cut (metal) into thin plates or foil
  3. (tr) to coat or back (glass, etc) with metal foil
  4. (tr) to number the leaves of (a book, manuscript, etc)Compare paginate
  5. (intr) (of plants) to grow leaves

Word Origin

C17: from Latin foliātus leaved, leafy
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for foliate

adj.

1620s, from Latin foliatus "leaved, leafy," from folium (see folio).

v.

1660s, "to apply silver leaf," from Latin foliatus "leaved, leafy," from folium (see folio). Meaning "to put forth leaves" is from 1775. Related: Foliated; foliating.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper