folio

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a book made from sheets folded once to form two leaves each, especially a large-format volume

   The atlas was printed as a folio so that its maps could remain large.

2. 2
   noun

   a single leaf of a manuscript or book, consisting of a front and a back

   The illuminated folio bears a gold initial on its front side.

3. 3
   noun

   the number assigned to a leaf or page, especially in a manuscript, ledger, or legal document

   The citation directs readers to folio 27 of the ledger.

From Middle English folio, borrowed from Latin folio, the ablative of folium, 'leaf.' Printers used the Latin phrase in folio for a sheet folded once, producing two leaves; the term then named both that large page format and a book made in it. The leaf and numbering senses preserve the original image.

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