English
foliation
Foliation comes from Latin folium ‘leaf’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- ‘blossom, flower’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰleh₃-1‘blossom, flower’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰolh₃yom1‘leaf’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfolium2‘leaf’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentfoliation2
- Englishearliest quotation 1907foliation2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin folium
- 2 Wiktionary, English foliation
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1907, Robert William Chambers, New York: “The house was a big elaborate limestone affair, evidently…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰleh₃-Wiktionary, Latin folium‘blossom, flower’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰolh₃yomWiktionary, Latin folium‘leaf’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfoliumWiktionary, English foliation‘leaf’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentfoliationWiktionary, English foliation
- Englishearliest quotation 1907foliationWiktionary, English foliation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1907, Robert William Chambers, New York: “The house was a big elaborate limestone affair, evidently…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- ‘blossom, flower’
full, blood, blow, flower, blade, bless, bloom, fool, floral, bleed, flora, blossom, flourish, ferret, florist, fleur, flor, belladonna, 53 more
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰolh₃yom ‘leaf’
through Latin folium ‘leaf’
Today it means
noun The process of forming into a leaf or leaves.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “foliation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin folium. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- / foliation