foliage

F4O1L1I1A1G2E1
UK/ˈfəʊliɪdʒ/US/ˈfoʊliɪd͡ʒ/

noun

The leaves of plants.

Similar
leafageleaffoliation
OriginMiddle English ffoylage ← Middle French feuillage ← Latin folium →
Less commonScrabble 11
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Meanings

nounfoliage (countable and uncountable, plural foliages)

plural foliages · alternative archaic dialectal nonstandard foilage · alternative archaic feuillage

  1. countableuncountableThe leaves of plants.
    1 more example

    Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.

    1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “Afterglow”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 168

    Synonyms: leafage

  2. abbreviationcountableuncountableFall foliage.
  3. countableuncountableAn architectural ornament representing foliage.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe leaves of plants.

Similar
leafage

More synonyms by meaning

nounthe main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants

Similar
leafleafage
Broader
plant organ

noun(architecture) leaf-like architectural ornament

Similar
foliation
Broader
architectural ornament
Also see
foliationleafleafage

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinfolium“leaf”
  2. Middle Frenchfeuillage
  3. Middle Englishffoylage
  4. Englishfoliage

From earlier foilage, from Late Middle English ffoylage, from Middle French feuillage. The more recent form is influenced by Latin folium (“leaf”).

More words from Middle English, Middle French, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian шу́ма, листа́к
  • шу́ма (šúma)the leaves of plants
  • листа́к (listák)the leaves of plants
Catalan fullatge
  • fullatgethe leaves of plants
Chinese Mandarin 葉子 /叶子, 葉形裝飾 /叶形装饰
  • 葉子 /叶子 (yèzi)the leaves of plants
  • 葉形裝飾 /叶形装饰an architectural ornament
Czech listí
  • listíthe leaves of plants
Danish løv
  • løvthe leaves of plants
Dutch gebladerte, loof
  • gebladertethe leaves of plants
  • loofthe leaves of plants
Esperanto foliaro
  • foliarothe leaves of plants
Finnish lehdet, lehvistö
  • lehdetthe leaves of plants
  • lehvistöthe leaves of plants
  • lehvästöthe leaves of plants
  • lehvästöan architectural ornament
French feuillage, feuillage
  • feuillagethe leaves of plants
  • feuillagean architectural ornament
German Blätter, Laub
  • Blätterthe leaves of plants
  • Laubthe leaves of plants
  • Laubwerkthe leaves of plants
  • Blätterwerkthe leaves of plants
  • Beblätterungthe leaves of plants
  • Belaubungthe leaves of plants
Greek φύλλωμα, φυλλωσιά
  • φύλλωμα (fýlloma)the leaves of plants
  • φυλλωσιά (fyllosiá)the leaves of plants
Hebrew עַלְוָה
  • עַלְוָה (alvá)the leaves of plants
Hindi पर्णसमूह
  • पर्णसमूह (parṇasmūh)the leaves of plants
Hungarian lomb
  • lombthe leaves of plants
Irish duilliúr, clúmh
  • duilliúrthe leaves of plants
  • clúmhthe leaves of plants
Italian fogliame
  • fogliamethe leaves of plants
Japanese 木の葉
  • 木の葉 (ko no ha)the leaves of plants
Korean 나뭇잎
  • 나뭇잎 (namunnip)the leaves of plants
Latin frons
  • fronsthe leaves of plants
Malay dedaun
  • dedaunthe leaves of plants
Māori raurau
  • raurauthe leaves of plants
Norwegian Bokmål bladverk, løvverk
  • bladverkthe leaves of plants
  • løvverkthe leaves of plants
Polish listowie, liście
  • listowiethe leaves of plants
  • liściethe leaves of plants
  • liściean architectural ornament
Portuguese folhagem, folhame
  • folhagemthe leaves of plants
  • folhamean architectural ornament
Romanian frunze, frunziș
  • frunzethe leaves of plants
  • frunzișthe leaves of plants
  • frunzărimethe leaves of plants
Russian листва́, ли́стья
  • листва́ (listvá)the leaves of plants
  • ли́стья (lístʹja)the leaves of plants
Slovak lístie
  • lístiethe leaves of plants
Spanish follaje, ataurique
  • follajethe leaves of plants
  • atauriquean architectural ornament
Swedish lövverk, bladverk
  • lövverkthe leaves of plants
  • bladverkthe leaves of plants
Tagalog kadahunan
  • kadahunanthe leaves of plants
Ukrainian ли́стя
  • ли́стя (lýstja)the leaves of plants
Welsh deiliant
  • deiliantthe leaves of plants
Cite this entry
APA

foliage. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foliage

MLA

“foliage.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foliage. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “foliage,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foliage.

Source: foliage on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.