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folia

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word folia

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Isidore of Seville, early 7th century
Ultimate origin
Latin folium
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin folium
Latin folia
French feuille

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈfɔ.li.a][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈfɔː.li.a][1]

Forms

folia f (genitive foliae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin folium (“leaf”): the neuter plural ⟨folia⟩ “leaves” was taken as a feminine singular.[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a Late Latin by-form of folium, found in Isidore of Seville's Etymologies (17.9.105), meaning a leaf.[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Beside a leaf of a plant it could mean a sheet or leaf of paper.[1] In Medieval Latin it was also a thin leaf of metal: a document of Sens of 1336 lists two marks of leaves of gilded silver.[6][5]

It is the source of Italian foglia[3] and French feuille,[6] and through the sense of a thin metal leaf German took Folie.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 560–636 – Isidore of Seville uses it for a leaf.[2][5]
  • 1336 – A document of Sens uses it for leaves of gilded silver.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin) A leaf.[2][4][1]
  2. (Late Latin) A sheet or leaf of paper.[1]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A thin leaf of metal, foil.[6][5]

Usage notes

A different medieval folia was a small measure of wine; the MLW explains it as a metathesis of phiola, and Köbler leaves its origin open.[7][8][5] Fōlia is also the name of a witch in Horace.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  7. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill

Descendants

Cite this entry

“Folia.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/folia. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·