Definition
nounThe usually green and flat organ that represents the most prominent feature of most vegetative plants.
nounA foliage leaf or any of the many and often considerably different structures it can specialise into.
Sentence Examples
Meg found a four leaf clover.
The criminal became a Christian and turned over a new leaf.
Word Origin & History
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- (“to cut off”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots leaf (“leaf”), Yola laafe (“leaf”), North Frisian luuf (“leaf”), Saterland Frisian Loof (“leaf”), West Frisian leaf (“leaf”), Cimbrian loap (“leaf”), Dutch loof (“foliage”), German Laub (“leaves”), German Low German Loov (“leaf”), Luxembourgish Laf (“foliage, leaves”), Mòcheno lap (“leaf”), Vilamovian łaub, łaup, łojp (“leaf”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål løv (“leaf”), Faroese leyv (“leaf”), Icelandic lauf (“leaf”), Norwegian Nynorsk lauv (“leaf”), Swedish löv (“leaf”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍆𐍃 (laufs, “leaf”); also Irish luibh (“herb, plant”), Latin liber (“bast; book”), Albanian labë (“rind”), Lithuanian lúobas (“bark; bast”), Polish łub (“bark”), Russian луб (lub, “bast”).
(Internet slang: Canadian): In reference to the maple leaf as national symbol.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7:
"Heretofore advertisers have had to buy and pay for a leaf — two pages."
— 1900, Profitable Advertising, volume 10, number 2, page 893:
"Lumbering down a precipitous "slideway," the Thornycroft broke two main leaves in the back spring[.]"
— 1931, Ion L. Idriess, Lasseter's Last Ride, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 52:
"The bridge shear locks were repaired and the long ends of the shear locks shortened about two inches to eliminate butting of the bridge leafs against each other."
— 1914, Department of Bridges, City of New York, Report, page 90:
"It will be noted that the pivotal mounting of the cylinders is such that the cylinders have their greatest leverage (i.e., exert the greatest door-opening force) when the door leafs 24, 28 are closed because the cylinders are generally perpendicular to the closed leafs. This is desirable because the load on the leafs is the greatest when they are closed due to air pressure. As the leafs begin to open and this air pressure decreases, the opening force exerted by the cylinders on the door leafs decreases and the opening speed of the leafs increases."
— 1992 July 21, William R. Kennedy, John M. Kennedy, Power mine door system, US Patent 5,222,838: