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Webster 1913 Edition

Leaf

Leaf

(lēf)
,
Noun.
;
pl.
Leaves
(lēvz)
.
[OE.
leef
,
lef
,
leaf
, AS.
leáf
; akin to S.
lōf
, OFries.
laf
, D.
loof
foliage, G.
laub
, OHG.
loub
leaf, foliage, Icel.
lauf
, Sw.
löf
, Dan.
löv
, Goth.
laufs
; cf. Lith.
lapas
. Cf.
Lodge
.]
1.
(Bot.)
A colored, usually green, expansion growing from the side of a stem or rootstock, in which the sap for the use of the plant is elaborated under the influence of light; one of the parts of a plant which collectively constitute its foliage.
☞ Such leaves usually consist of a blade, or
lamina
, supported upon a leafstalk or
petiole
, which, continued through the blade as the
midrib
, gives off woody
ribs
and
veins
that support the cellular texture. The petiole has usually some sort of an appendage on each side of its base, which is called the
stipule
. The green parenchyma of the leaf is covered with a thin epiderm pierced with closable microscopic openings, known as
stomata
.
2.
(Bot.)
A special organ of vegetation in the form of a lateral outgrowth from the stem, whether appearing as a part of the foliage, or as a cotyledon, a scale, a bract, a spine, or a tendril.
☞ In this view every part of a plant, except the root and the stem, is either a leaf, or is composed of leaves more or less modified and transformed.
3.
Something which is like a leaf in being wide and thin and having a flat surface, or in being attached to a larger body by one edge or end;
as
:
(a)
A part of a book or folded sheet containing two pages upon its opposite sides.
(b)
A side, division, or part, that slides or is hinged, as of window shutters, folding doors, etc.
(c)
The movable side of a table.
(d)
A very thin plate;
as, gold
leaf
.
(e)
A portion of fat lying in a separate fold or layer.
(f)
One of the teeth of a pinion, especially when small.
Leaf beetle
(Zool.)
,
any beetle which feeds upon leaves; esp., any species of the family
Chrysomelidæ
, as the potato beetle and helmet beetle.
–
Leaf bridge
,
a draw-bridge having a platform or leaf which swings vertically on hinges.
–
Leaf bud
(Bot.)
,
a bud which develops into leaves or a leafy branch.
–
Leaf butterfly
(Zool.)
,
any butterfly which, in the form and colors of its wings, resembles the leaves of plants upon which it rests; esp., butterflies of the genus
Kallima
, found in Southern Asia and the East Indies.
–
Leaf crumpler
(Zool.)
,
a small moth (
Phycis indigenella
), the larva of which feeds upon leaves of the apple tree, and forms its nest by crumpling and fastening leaves together in clusters.
–
Leaf fat
,
the fat which lies in leaves or layers within the body of an animal.
–
Leaf flea
(Zool.)
,
a jumping plant louse of the family
Psyllidæ
.
–
Leaf frog
(Zool.)
,
any tree frog of the genus
Phyllomedusa
.
–
Leaf green
.
(Bot.)
See
Chlorophyll
.
–
Leaf hopper
(Zool.)
,
any small jumping hemipterous insect of the genus
Tettigonia
, and allied genera. They live upon the leaves and twigs of plants. See
Live hopper
.
–
Leaf insect
(Zool.)
,
any one of several genera and species of orthopterous insects, esp. of the genus
Phyllium
, in which the wings, and sometimes the legs, resemble leaves in color and form. They are common in Southern Asia and the East Indies.
–
Leaf lard
,
lard from leaf fat. See under
Lard
.
–
Leaf louse
(Zool.)
,
an aphid.
–
Leaf metal
,
metal in thin leaves, as gold, silver, or tin.
–
Leaf miner
(Zool.)
,
any one of various small lepidopterous and dipterous insects, which, in the larval stages, burrow in and eat the parenchyma of leaves;
as, the pear-tree
leaf miner
(
Lithocolletis geminatella
)
.
–
Leaf notcher
(Zool.)
,
a pale bluish green beetle (
Artipus Floridanus
), which, in Florida, eats the edges of the leaves of orange trees.
–
Leaf roller
(Zool.)
,
See
leaf roller
in the vocabulary.
–
Leaf scar
(Bot.)
,
the cicatrix on a stem whence a leaf has fallen.
–
Leaf sewer
(Zool.)
,
a tortricid moth, whose caterpillar makes a nest by rolling up a leaf and fastening the edges together with silk, as if sewn; esp.,
Phoxopteris nubeculana
, which feeds upon the apple tree.
–
Leaf sight
,
a hinged sight on a firearm, which can be raised or folded down.
–
Leaf trace
(Bot.)
,
one or more fibrovascular bundles, which may be traced down an endogenous stem from the base of a leaf.
–
Leaf tier
(Zool.)
,
a tortricid moth whose larva makes a nest by fastening the edges of a leaf together with silk; esp.,
Teras cinderella
, found on the apple tree.
–
Leaf valve
,
a valve which moves on a hinge.
–
Leaf wasp
(Zool.)
,
a sawfly.
–
To turn over a new leaf
,
to make a radical change for the better in one’s way of living or doing.
[Colloq.]
They were both determined
to turn over a new leaf
.
Richardson.

Webster 1828 Edition

Leaf

LEAF

,
Noun.
plu.
leaves.
1.
In botany, leaves are organs of perspiration and inhalation in plants. They usually shoot from the sides of the stems and branches, but sometimes from the root; sometimes they are sessile; more generally supported by petioles. They are of various forms, flat, extended, linear, cylindric, &c.
2.
The thin, extended part of a flower; a petal.
3.
A part of a book containing two pages.
4.
The side of a double door. 1Kings 6.
5.
Something resembling a leaf in thinness and extension; a very thin plate; as gold leaf.
6.
The movable side of a table.

LEAF

,
Verb.
I.
To shoot out leaves; to produce leaves. The trees leaf in May.

Definition 2024

leaf

leaf

English

A leaf
leaves (plural form)

Noun

leaf ‎(plural leaves)

  1. The usually green and flat organ that represents the most prominent feature of most vegetative plants.
    • 2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 206-7:
      Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.
  2. Anything resembling the leaf of a plant.
  3. A sheet of any substance beaten or rolled until very thin.
    gold leaf‎
  4. A sheet of a book, magazine, etc (consisting of two pages, one on each face of the leaf).
  5. (in the plural) Tea leaves.
  6. A flat section used to extend the size of a table.
  7. A moveable panel, e.g. of a bridge or door, originally one that hinged but now also applied to other forms of movement.
    The train car has one single-leaf and two double-leaf doors per side.‎
  8. (botany) A foliage leaf or any of the many and often considerably different structures it can specialise into.
  9. (computing, mathematics) In a tree, a node that has no descendants.
    • 2011, John Mongan, Noah Kindler, Eric Giguère, Programming Interviews Exposed
      The algorithm pops the stack to obtain a new current node when there are no more children (when it reaches a leaf).
  10. The layer of fat supporting the kidneys of a pig, leaf fat.
  11. One of the teeth of a pinion, especially when small.

Meronyms

  • (moveable panel of a bridge or door): stile

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

leaf ‎(third-person singular simple present leafs, present participle leafing, simple past and past participle leafed)

  1. (intransitive) To produce leaves; put forth foliage.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

References

  1. ↑ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, page 337
  • leaf in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • leaf at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

Old English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *laubō. Cognate with Old High German *louba (German Laube).

Noun

lēaf f ‎(nominative plural lēafe)

  1. permission
Descendants

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *laubą, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *leup- ‎(“to peel, break off”). Cognate with West Frisian leaf, Old Saxon lōf (Low German Loov), Dutch loof, Old High German loup (German Laub), Old Norse lauf (Danish løv, Swedish löv), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍆𐍃 ‎(laufs).

Noun

lēaf n

  1. leaf
  2. page
Descendants

Scots

Etymology

From Old English lēaf.

Noun

leaf ‎(plural leafs)

  1. leaf

West Frisian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lɪːf/

Etymology 1

From Old Frisian, from Proto-Germanic *laubą, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *leup- ‎(“peel off, break off”).

Noun

leaf n ‎(plural leaven)

  1. leaf, especially a long leaf, like a blade of grass

Etymology 2

Adjective

leaf ‎(plural leave)

  1. friendly, kind, cordial

Adverb

leaf

  1. in a friendly manner, kindly, cordially

Etymology

From Middle English leef, from Old English lēaf, from Proto-Germanic *laubą ‎(“leaf”) (compare West Frisian leaf, Low German Loov, Dutch loof, German Laub, Danish løv, Swedish löv), from Proto-Indo-European *leubʰ- ‎(“leaf, rind”)[1] (compare Irish luibh ‎(“herb”), Latin liber ‎(“bast; book”), Lithuanian lúoba ‎(“bark”), Albanian labë ‎(“rind”), Latvian luba ‎(“plank, board”), Russian луб ‎(lub, “bast”)).

Pronunciation

  • enPR: lēf, IPA(key): /liːf/
  • Rhymes: -iːf
  • Homophone: lief
  • IPA(key): /ˈlæːɑf/

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