leaf English · revision 6458

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 725|origins=gem-pro *laubą}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /liːf/ ''(UK)''; /lif/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|lēaf|t=leaf of a plant; page of a book]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[gem-pro|*laubą]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) cognate with [[ofs|lāf]], [[nl|loof]], [[de|Laub|t=foliage]], [[non|lauf]] and [[got|𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍆𐍃|tr=laufs]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) perhaps from PIE [[ine-pro|*lewbʰ-|alt=*leub(h)-|t=to peel off, strip]];^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Hoad finds no certain cognates outside Germanic.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A leaf of a plant, and a page of a book: Old English, before 725 in Barnhart, about 825 in the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Very thin sheets of metal, especially gold, are leaf from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) A hinged flap or extension of a table is from the 1550s.^(Etymonline) The leaves of tobacco and of other plants used for smoking are from before 1618, and tea leaves follow.^(OED 1989) ''To turn over a new leaf'', to begin a better life, is from the 1590s (''turn the leaf'' by the 1570s), from the book sense.^(Etymonline) The verb, to put forth leaves, is from 1611, and to turn the pages of a book from the 1660s.^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 725 – a leaf; a page.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 14th century – gold leaf.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1550s – a table leaf.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1570s – turn the leaf.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1611 – the verb, to put forth leaves.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A flat, usually green part of a plant growing from a stem, which makes food by [[photosynthesis]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A single sheet of a book, with a page on each side.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Metal beaten into a very thin sheet: ''gold leaf''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A hinged or removable section of a table.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To turn over pages quickly, usually with ''through''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To put out leaves.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[leafless]]

+ * [[leaflike]]

+ * [[broadleaf]]

+ * [[cloverleaf]]

+ * [[copper-leaf]]

+ * [[endleaf]]

+ * [[fanleaf]]

+ * [[flannel-leaf]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[leaflet]]

+ * [[leafy]]

+ * [[foliage]]

+ * [[lodge]]

+ * [[lobby]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}