Library / English Dictionary

FOLIAGE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

(architecture) leaf-like architectural ornament

Synonyms:

foliage; foliation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("foliage" is a kind of...):

architectural ornament ((architecture) something added to a building to improve its appearance)

Domain category:

architecture (the discipline dealing with the principles of design and construction and ornamentation of fine buildings)

Derivation:

foliate (decorate with leaves)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants

Synonyms:

foliage; leaf; leafage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("foliage" is a kind of...):

plant organ (a functional and structural unit of a plant or fungus)

Meronyms (parts of "foliage"):

leaf form; leaf shape (any of the various shape that leaves of plants can assume)

venation ((botany) the arrangement of veins in a leaf)

lobe ((botany) a part into which a leaf is divided)

Meronyms (substance of "foliage"):

parenchyma (the primary tissue of higher plants composed of thin-walled cells that remain capable of cell division even when mature; constitutes the greater part of leaves, roots, the pulp of fruits, and the pith of stems)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "foliage"):

rosette (a cluster of leaves growing in crowded circles from a common center or crown (usually at or close to the ground))

prickly-edged leaf (a leaf having prickly margins)

parted leaf (a leaf having margins incised almost to the base so as to create distinct divisions or lobes)

parallel-veined leaf (a leaf whose veins run in parallel from the stem)

lobed leaf (a leaf having deeply indented margins)

runcinate leaf (a leaf having incised margins with the lobes or teeth curved toward the base; as a dandelion leaf)

erose leaf (a leaf having a jagged margin as though gnawed)

emarginate leaf (a leaf having a notch at the apex)

dentate leaf (a leaf having a toothed margin)

serrate leaf (a leaf having a margin notched like a saw with teeth pointing toward the apex)

crenate leaf (a leaf having a scalloped margin)

entire leaf (a leaf having a smooth margin without notches or indentations)

compound leaf (a leaf composed of a number of leaflets on a common stalk)

simple leaf (a leaf that is not divided into parts)

fig leaf (a leaf from a fig tree)

betel; betel leaf (a leaf of a vine from the betel pepper)

scale; scale leaf (a specialized leaf or bract that protects a bud or catkin)

pad (the large floating leaf of an aquatic plant (as the water lily))

frond (compound leaf of a fern or palm or cycad)

leaflet (part of a compound leaf)

greenery; verdure (green foliage)

amplexicaul leaf (a leaf with its base clasping the stem)

blade; leaf blade (especially a leaf of grass or the broad portion of a leaf as distinct from the petiole)

sporophyl; sporophyll (leaf in ferns and mosses that bears the sporangia)

pitcher ((botany) a leaf that that is modified in such a way as to resemble a pitcher or ewer)

dandelion green (the foliage of the dandelion plant)

floral leaf (a modified leaf that is part of a flower)

cataphyll (a reduced or scarcely developed leaf at the start of a plant's life (i.e., cotyledons) or in the early stages of leaf development)

Derivation:

foliate (grow leaves)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The oil extracted from the foliage and wood of various conifers, especially Thuja occidentalis.

(Cedar Leaf Oil, NCI Thesaurus)

Leaves may appear as part of the foliage, or as a cotyledon, a scale, a bract, a spine, or a tendril.

(Leaf, Food and Drug Administration)

All over the countryside, away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light green of the new foliage.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I stopped short, among the thick foliage outside, for the moon was up now, though obscured; and I recognized the man whom I had once supposed to be a delusion of Mr. Dick's, and had once encountered with my aunt in the streets of the city.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A young woman, pretty, lively, with a harp as elegant as herself, and both placed near a window, cut down to the ground, and opening on a little lawn, surrounded by shrubs in the rich foliage of summer, was enough to catch any man's heart.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I shall never forget the last glimpse which I had of the inn-yard and its crowd of picturesque figures, all crossing themselves, as they stood round the wide archway, with its background of rich foliage of oleander and orange trees in green tubs clustered in the centre of the yard.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Gnarled olive trees covered the hills with their dusky foliage, fruit hung golden in the orchard, and great scarlet anemones fringed the roadside, while beyond green slopes and craggy heights, the Maritime Alps rose sharp and white against the blue Italian sky.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

At first the steps of a few belated villagers, or the sound of voices from the village, lightened our vigil, but one by one these interruptions died away, and an absolute stillness fell upon us, save for the chimes of the distant church, which told us of the progress of the night, and for the rustle and whisper of a fine rain falling amid the foliage which roofed us in.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

One huge gingko tree, topping all the others, shot its great limbs and maidenhair foliage over the fort which we had constructed.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The vistas he saw were vistas of green foliage and forest glades, all softly luminous or shot through with flashing lights.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)