Folio
'foʊlioʊ
Definitions
4 meaningsA sheet of paper folded once to form two leaves, or a book or manuscript of this size.
'foʊlioʊ
A sheet of paper folded once to form two leaves or four pages.
The artist sketched his portraits on large folios.
💡 Simply: Think of a really big piece of paper, like the ones used to make fancy old books. If you fold it in half, that's a folio! People used to write really important things on these big pages.
👶 For kids: A big, big piece of paper that's folded in half to make a book page.
More Examples
The manuscript was bound in a folio volume.
The library housed the historical documents in a folio collection.
The expensive publication was presented as a folio.
How It's Used
"The book was printed on large-format folios."
"The rare book was stored in the folio section of the library."
A book or manuscript of a certain size, made by folding a sheet of paper once to make two leaves or four pages.
'foʊlioʊ
A book or manuscript made up of folios.
The rare book was a first edition folio.
💡 Simply: Imagine a really old, important book, made up of those big, folded pages we talked about. If the book is made of folios, it's also called a folio! Like Shakespeare's first printed collection.
👶 For kids: A whole book made of those big, folded pages.
More Examples
The library possessed an ancient folio of poems.
The curator admired the elaborate illustrations in the folio.
The scholar researched the historical significance of the folio.
How It's Used
"The first folio of Shakespeare's plays is invaluable."
"The collector spent years searching for a complete folio."
A page number.
'foʊlioʊ
The editor corrected the folio numbers in the manuscript.
💡 Simply: It's like the page number in a book – it helps you find exactly which page you want! So it's a number on a page.
👶 For kids: The number on a page that tells you where you are in a book.
More Examples
The references are listed by folio.
The table of contents listed the headings with corresponding folios.
The printer verified the folio sequence before binding.
How It's Used
"The folio number was placed at the bottom of the page."
"Please check the index against the folio numbers."
To number the leaves or pages of a book.
'foʊlioʊ
To number the pages of a book or manuscript.
The proofreader will folio the new edition.
💡 Simply: Like putting page numbers on a book, so you can find your way around.
👶 For kids: To write the numbers on the pages of a book.
More Examples
The printer carefully folios each new batch of books.
The archivist took care to properly folio the rare documents.
The editor will need to folio this article before publishing it.
How It's Used
"The editor had to folio the entire document."
"The printer folios each page during the print run."
From Latin *folium* meaning 'leaf'. Initially referring to a leaf of paper, it evolved to describe a sheet folded once, forming two leaves or four pages.
The term 'folio' has been used since the early 16th century to refer to books of a specific size. It was particularly associated with important or valuable works.