Leaf Names Part of a Plant and a Page of a Book
A leaf is the flat green part of a plant. The word also names a sheet of paper and a sheet of metal.
A leaf is the flat green organ of a plant, and also a single sheet of a book. The page sense is old and direct — a leaf is thin and flat, so the word transferred — which is why a book has leaves and why *leafing through* means turning pages. A *leaf* of gold is beaten metal thin enough to behave the same way. *Turn over a new leaf* means to start afresh, from turning to a blank page, recorded from the 1500s.
- A plant organ. *A green leaf.*
- A page. *A loose leaf.*
- Beaten metal. *Gold leaf.*
- Turn over a new leaf — start afresh. *A new leaf.*
- Old English — *leaf*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | leaf | A leaf. |
| Plural | leaves | Leaves. |
| Verb | leaf | Leafing through. |
| Adjective | leafy | Leafy. |
| Compound | gold leaf | Gold leaf. |
- The leaves turned in October.Plant.
- He leafed through the file.Pages.
- The frame was covered in gold leaf.Metal.
About gold leaf
- Gold is the most malleable metal
- A single gram can be beaten to cover a square metre
- Leaf is thin enough to be translucent, showing green light through
- It is applied with a brush and a static charge, not fingers
- The craft is called gilding
Old English *leaf*, of Germanic origin, related to German *Laub*.
Why is a page called a leaf?
Because it is thin and flat like a plant leaf. A leaf of a book is one sheet, carrying two pages.
How thin is gold leaf?
Thin enough to be translucent. A single gram of gold can be beaten out to cover roughly a square metre.