foliate
Americanadjective
verb (used without object)
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to put forth leaves.
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to split into thin leaflike layers or laminae.
verb (used with object)
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to shape like a leaf or leaves.
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to decorate with foils or foliage.
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to form into thin sheets.
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to spread over with a thin metallic backing.
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Printing. to number the folios or leaves, as distinguished from pages, of (a manuscript or book).
adjective
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relating to, possessing, or resembling leaves
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in combination
trifoliate
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(of certain metamorphic rocks, esp schists) having the constituent minerals arranged in thin leaflike layers
verb
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(tr) to ornament with foliage or with leaf forms such as foils
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to hammer or cut (metal) into thin plates or foil
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(tr) to coat or back (glass, etc) with metal foil
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(tr) to number the leaves of (a book, manuscript, etc) Compare paginate
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(intr) (of plants) to grow leaves
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of foliate
First recorded in 1620–30, foliate is from the Latin word foliātus leafy. See folium, -ate 1
Vocabulary lists containing foliate
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.
See Examples For:
Also included are a champagne swizzle stick and a metal-mounted foliate cocktail stick holder.
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2023
They are normally described by art historians as foliate heads, and they are, essentially, a decorative trope.
From Slate ● Apr. 8, 2023
The works reference Art Nouveau’s mimicry of foliate forms — only, in this case, they’re literally composed of leaves.
From New York Times ● Oct. 12, 2021
Lehman followed a formula in these portraits and foliate still lifes, but his strange deviations and distortions of space and the body keep the images fresh.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 28, 2016
High pillars with crocketed and foliate capitals supported the springing of the large irregular arches.
From Ypres and the Battles of Ypres by Unknown
Boxwood: English boxwood is bright green and densely foliated with rounded leaves.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 9, 2016
As this happens typically at convergent plate boundaries, directed pressures can be strong, and regionally altered rocks are almost always foliated.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
Foliation is a key feature of metamorphic rocks formed under directed pressure; foliated metamorphic rocks include slate, phyllite, schist, and gneiss.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
This rock is foliated, even though it might not appear to be if examined without a microscope, and so it must have formed under directed-pressure conditions.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
Still more common is the occurrence of sheared, foliated or schistose forms of gabbro.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 4 "G" to "Gaskell, Elizabeth" by Various
The ash was foliating on the 29th of April, the oak on the 28th.
From The Delectable Duchy by Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
Definitions 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.
