Foliate

/ˈfəʊliət/ adj, noun, verb

adj, noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: A logocyclic curve.
  • Grammar: foliate is listed as adj, noun, verb.
  • Nearest alternatives: adorn, branching, call off, count.
  • Useful contrasts: aphyllous, bare, defoliate.
  • Usage evidence: The faces of the jambs and archivolts of these openings are heavily adorned with mouldings and foliate ornaments in terra-cotta relief, while the archivolts of the arcade above have more simple neo-classic profiling, and more refined and conventional foliate ornamentation.

How to use "foliate"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "foliate" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "foliate" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "foliate" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "foliate" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "foliate" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "adorn" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "foliate", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A logocyclic curve.
Verb
  1. 1
    To add numbers to (a folio or leaf, or all the folios or leaves, of a book); also, to add numbers to the folios or leaves of (a book); to folio, to page, to paginate. transitive
  2. 2
    grow leaves wordnet
  3. 3
    To spread (glass) with a thin coat of mercury and tin, or other substances forming a foil, to create a mirror; to foil, to silver. transitive

    "to foliate a looking-glass"

  4. 4
    number the pages of a book or manuscript wordnet
  5. 5
    To decorate (an architectural feature, as an arch or window) with foils (“small arcs in the traceries of arches, windows, etc.”). transitive

    "All European architecture, bad and good, old and new, is derived from Greece through Rome, and coloured and perfected from the East. […] Now observe: those old Greeks gave the shaft; Rome gave the arch; the Arabs pointed and foliated the arch."

Show 6 more definitions
  1. 6
    coat or back with metal foil wordnet
  2. 7
    To beat (metal) into a foil or thin sheet. obsolete, transitive

    "[I]f Gold be foliated and held betvveen your Eye and the Light, the Light looks blue, and therefore maſſy Gold lets into its Body the blue-making rays to be reflected to and fro vvithin it till they be ſtopt and ſtifled, vvhilſt it reflects the yellovv-making outvvards, and thereby looks yellovv."

  3. 8
    decorate with leaves wordnet
  4. 9
    To split into layers or leaves. intransitive
  5. 10
    hammer into thin flat foils wordnet
  6. 11
    Of a plant: to produce leaves. intransitive
Adjective
  1. 1
    Of or relating to leaves.
  2. 2
    Shaped like or otherwise resembling a leaf; leaflike.

    "In the Laureat draughts of ſculpture and picture, the leaves and foliate vvorks are commonly thus contrived, vvhich is but in imitation of the Pulvinaria, and ancient pillovv-vvork, obſervable in Ionick peeces, about columns, temples and altars."

  3. 3
    Shaped like or otherwise resembling a leaf; leaflike.; Of a curve: having two infinite branches with a common asymptote, and a leaf-shaped loop.
  4. 4
    Of a plant: having leaves.
  5. 5
    Of a leaf: having a (certain number of) leaflets.
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    Synonym of foliated (“of a rock: having a structure of thin layers”).
  2. 7
    In the form of a foil or thin sheet. obsolete

    "foliate gold"

Adjective
  1. 1
    (especially of metamorphic rock) having thin leaflike layers or strata wordnet
  2. 2
    (often used as a combining form) having or resembling a leaf or having a specified kind or number of leaves wordnet
  3. 3
    ornamented with foliage or foils wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
adornbranchingcall offcountdecorateembellish

Example

"The faces of the jambs and archivolts of these openings are heavily adorned with mouldings and foliate ornaments in terra-cotta relief, while the archivolts of the arcade above have more simple neo-classic profiling, and more refined and conventional foliate ornamentation."

Common questions

What does "foliate" mean?

A logocyclic curve.

What is a synonym for "foliate"?

Common synonyms include: adorn, branching, call off, count, decorate, embellish.

How do you use "foliate" in a sentence?

The faces of the jambs and archivolts of these openings are heavily adorned with mouldings and foliate ornaments in terra-cotta relief, while the archivolts of the arcade above have more simple neo-classic profiling, and more refined and conventional foliate ornamentation.

How do you pronounce "foliate"?

Pronounced /ˈfəʊliət/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin foliātus (“having leaves, leafy, leaved”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), a participial adjective derived from folium (“leaf; (Late Latin) leaf or sheet of paper”) + -ātus (participial adjective-forming suffix) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“blossom, flower”) or *dʰelh₁- (“to be green”)).

Etymology 2

From a substantivation of the above adjective. Equivalent to folia + -ate (noun-forming suffix).

Etymology 3

From Latin folium (“leaf”) + -ate (verb-forming suffix) (more at etymology 1)

More for "foliate"

Synonyms

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