What does "folio" mean?
A leaf of a book or manuscript.
Folio
/ˈfəʊlɪəʊ/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A leaf of a book or manuscript.
- Grammar: folio is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: leaf, acknowledgment, acknowledgments, article.
- Useful contrasts: cover, digital file, eightvo.
- Usage evidence: The play Macbeth first appeared in Shakespeare's First Folio of 1623.
How to use "folio"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "folio" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- 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 "folio" 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 "folio" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "folio" 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 "folio" is acting as 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 "leaf" 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 "folio", 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 A leaf of a book or manuscript.
"[Thomas] Hood also presented his treatises in such a way that conveniently accessing specific lessons was difficult, if not impossible, for the reader-practitioner. For example, his book entitled The Vse of Both the Globes, Celestiall and Terrestriall... (1592) was roughly two hundred pages long but did not include such helpful tools as an index, a table of contents, or even folio numbers. In order to refer to some lesson that he might need, the reader would have to leaf through the text until the passage in question was found, or else rely upon his own marginal notes."
- 2 a book (or manuscript) consisting of large sheets of paper folded in the middle to make two leaves or four pages wordnet
- 3 A page of a book, that is, one side of a leaf of a book.
"Folio Page.—A page which occupies the half of a full sheet of paper, as Post-folio, Demy-folio, etc. Two pages of folio are imposed together as one form, four pages being a perfect sheet. Post-folio and Foolscap-folio, however, are more frequently imposed as four-page forms, and printed on Double-post and Double-foolscap paper."
- 4 a sheet of any written or printed material (especially in a manuscript or book) wordnet
- 5 A page number. The even folios are on the left-hand pages and the odd folios on the right-hand pages. broadly
"Folio.—The running number of the pages of a work. When there is no running title, the folio is placed in the centre of the head-line; when there is a running title, at the outside corner—the even folio on the left, the odd on the right. The preface, contents, index, and all introductory matter, usually have separate folios inserted in Roman lower-case numerals."
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 the system of numbering pages wordnet
- 7 A sheet of paper folded in half. broadly
"This pocket copying-machine, by which letters and writings of all sizes, even folio, may be very quickly copied, consists of a press four inches long, with a small cylinder, which contains pens and ink: the whole apparatus may be conveniently carried in the pocket, and the price is very moderate."
- 8 A book made of sheets of paper each folded in half (two leaves or four pages to the sheet); hence, a book of the largest kind, exceeding 30 centimetres in height. broadly
"A rare copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio."
- 9 A wrapper for loose papers.
- 10 A page in an account book; sometimes, two opposite pages bearing the same serial number.
"In the leger,^([sic]) articles of the ſame kind are collected together; and, for that purpoſe, it is divided into many accounts, under which the different branches of buſineſs are arranged. Each account is introduced by a proper title, to explain the nature of the articles it contains; and articles of oppoſite kinds, which belong to the ſame account, are placed on the oppoſite pages of the ſame folio: for inſtance, money received on the one ſide, and money paid on the other; or goods bought on the one ſide, and goods ſold on the other."
- 11 A protective case with a flap that folds to cover the screen of a mobile device.
- 12 A leaf containing a certain number of words; hence, a certain number of words in a piece of writing, as in England, in law proceedings 72, and in chancery, 90; in New York, 100 words. dated
"[page 172] When actions are brought in the Courts of King's Bench or Common Pleas, founded upon original writs issuing out of the Courts of Chancery (which writs, as stated in the Report of the 9th of April 1816, it is the duty of the Cursitors to make out) it has been the practice in certain cases for the Filacers of the Courts of King's Bench and Common Pleas respectively, to receive from the Suitors the King's fines (if any) and also the fees payable to the Cursitors in respect of such original writs, and afterwards to account to the Cursitors for the fines and fees so received. […] [page 176] The Cursitors have claimed before us a right to compute the skin in all cases, at twenty folios, each folio containing seventy-two words; and to charge 1 s. 4 d. for every folio, instead of the fees now taken per folio or per skin, where the writ in charged in that manner. In support of this claim they have contended, that twenty folios of seventy-two words each, were established by the Order of 1743, as the length of a skin; […] The writ [of Transgress' super Casum], exclusive of the part containing the matter of the declaration, contains less than two folios of seventy-two words each; common counts are stated to contain usually, from two to three folios; special counts are usually longer, and sometimes of a much greater length."
Verb
- 1 To put a serial number on (a folio or page, or on all the folios or pages of a book); to foliate, to page. transitive
"And all the pleadings and other proceedings and copies thereof shall be fairly and legibly written; and if not so written, and folioed, and indorsed as aforesaid, the clerks shall not file such as may be offered to them for that purpose, nor will the court hear any motion or application founded thereon."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"The play Macbeth first appeared in Shakespeare's First Folio of 1623."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "folio"?
Common synonyms include: leaf, acknowledgment, acknowledgments, article, back, back matter.
How do you use "folio" in a sentence?
The play Macbeth first appeared in Shakespeare's First Folio of 1623.
How do you pronounce "folio"?
Pronounced /ˈfəʊlɪəʊ/.
Etymology
From Middle English folio (“leaf of a book”), borrowed from Medieval Latin foliō, Late Latin foliō, Latin foliō, the ablative singular form of Late Latin folium (“leaf or sheet of paper”), Latin folium (“leaf of a plant”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“bloom, flower”). Doublet of foil and folium, and distantly related to phyllo and phyllon. Senses 1, 2, 3.1, 5, and 6 relating to a leaf or page are derived from Medieval Latin foliō in references; sense 5 (“page in an account book”) may be derived from Italian foglio (“rectangular sheet of paper”), from Latin folium. Senses 3.2 and 3.3 relating to a paper size are from Italian in foglio or its etymon Latin in foliō.