English Online Dictionary. What means leaf? What does leaf mean?
English
Etymology
From Middle English leef, from Old English lēaf, from Proto-West Germanic *laub, from Proto-Germanic *laubą (“leaf”), from Proto-Indo-European *lowbʰ-o-m, from *lewbʰ- (“leaf, rind”)
See also West Frisian leaf, Low German Loov, Dutch loof, German Laub, Danish løv, Swedish löv, Norwegian Nynorsk lauv, Icelandic lauf; also Irish luibh (“herb”), Latin liber (“bast; book”), Lithuanian lúoba (“bark”), Albanian labë (“rind”), Latvian luba (“plank, board”), Russian луб (lub, “bast”).
(Internet slang: Canadian): In reference to the maple leaf as national symbol.
Pronunciation
- enPR: lēf, IPA(key): /liːf/
- Rhymes: -iːf
- Homophones: lief; Leith (th-fronting)
Noun
leaf (countable and uncountable, plural leaves)
- The usually green and flat organ that represents the most prominent feature of most vegetative plants.
- (botany) A foliage leaf or any of the many and often considerably different structures it can specialise into.
- Anything resembling the leaf of a plant.
- (publishing, bookbinding, advertising) A sheet of a book, magazine, etc. (consisting of two pages, one on each face of the leaf).
- Hyponyms: flyleaf, looseleaf
- A sheet of any substance beaten or rolled until very thin.
- Synonyms: folio, folium
- One of the individual flat or curved strips of metal, typically made of spring steel, that make up a leaf spring.
- (in the plural) Tea leaves.
- A flat section used to extend the size of a table.
- (plural leaves or leafs) A moveable panel, e.g. of a bridge or door, originally one that hinged but now also applied to other forms of movement.
- Hyponym: doorleaf
- Meronym: stile
- (computing, mathematics) In a tree, a node that has no descendants.
- The layer of fat supporting the kidneys of a pig, leaf fat.
- One of the teeth of a pinion, especially when small.
- (slang, uncountable) Cannabis.
- (4chan slang, Internet slang, humorous, sometimes pejorative, plural leafs) A Canadian person.
Synonyms
- phyllon
Derived terms
Descendants
- Tok Pisin: lip
Translations
Verb
leaf (third-person singular simple present leafs, present participle leafing, simple past and past participle leafed)
- (intransitive) To produce leaves; put forth foliage.
- (transitive) To divide (a vegetable) into separate leaves.
- (informal, transitive, uncommon) To play a prank on someone by throwing a large clump or collection of leaves at them.
Synonyms
- leave (verb)
Derived terms
- leafing
- leaf through
Translations
See also
- foliage
- frond
- needle
References
Further reading
- leaf on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- leaf (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- “leaf”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “leaf”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams
- Lafe, alef, feal, flea
Old English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /læ͜ɑːf/
Etymology 1
From Proto-West Germanic *laub, from Proto-Germanic *laubą. Cognate with Old Saxon lōf, Old High German loub, Old Norse lauf, Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍆𐍃 (laufs).
Noun
lēaf n
- leaf
- page
Declension
Strong a-stem:
Descendants
- Middle English: leef, lefe, leve, lewe
- English: leaf
- Tok Pisin: lip
- Scots: leaf, lefe, leif
- Yola: laafe
- English: leaf
Etymology 2
From Proto-West Germanic *laubu. Cognate with Old High German *louba (German Laube).
Alternative forms
- lǣf, līf
Noun
lēaf f
- permission
Declension
Strong ō-stem:
Descendants
- English: leave
Scots
Etymology
From Middle English leef, lefe, lef, from Old English lēaf.
Noun
leaf (plural leafs)
- Alternative form of leif (“leaf”)
West Frisian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /lɪə̯f/
Etymology 1
From Old Frisian lāf.
Noun
leaf n (plural leaven, diminutive leafke)
- leaf, especially a long leaf, like a blade of grass
Further reading
- “leaf (IV)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
Etymology 2
From Old Frisian liāf.
Adjective
leaf
- friendly, kind, cordial
Inflection
Derived terms
- leafde
- leafhawwe
- leavehearsbistke
Further reading
- “leaf (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011