foliage
Americannoun
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the leaves of a plant, collectively; leafage.
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leaves in general.
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the representation of leaves, flowers, and branches in painting, architectural ornament, etc.
noun
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the green leaves of a plant
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sprays of leaves used for decoration
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an ornamental leaflike design
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of foliage
1400–50; late Middle English foilage < Middle French fueillage, foillage, derivative of feuille leaf; influenced by Latin folium folium. See foil 2, -age
Explanation
Foliage refers to the leafy parts of a tree or plant. Don't eat the foliage on the rhubarb plant because the leaves are poisonous and eating them can be fatal; the stems, on the other hand, are tasty. The noun foliage refers to leaves — either individual leaves or the collective leafy canopy of many trees or plants. Every autumn, thousands of people drive through the New England countryside to view the fall foliage, enjoying the brilliant russet and gold leaves against a crisp blue sky. The jungle foliage, on the other hand, can be so dense that one may have to slice through it with a machete in order to pass through it.
Vocabulary lists containing foliage
November Words
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One when another newly confident leader, David Cameron, ushered in the modern Tory party on the conference stage in front of digitally produced green foliage and sunlight.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
Winemakers also protected the grapes from the sun by keeping more foliage on than usual.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
It wasn’t until the 1970s that Italian art historian Rodolfo Signorini discovered that Mantegna had included his own watchful face, lurking inside trompe l’oeil foliage on a west-wall pilaster.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Overgrown foliage has invaded the front yard of the Silver Lake home that Vela Gonzalez used to maintain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
Sidana scurried toward us through the wilted foliage.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
