folia

¹

[ foh-lee-uh ]

noun

1. plural of folium.

folia

²

[ fuh-lee-uh ]

noun

1. a wild and noisy Portuguese carnival dance accompanied by tambourines, performed at a frantic pace by men dressed as women and often carrying masked boys on their shoulders.

folía

³

[ Spanish faw-lee-ah ]

noun

, plural fo·lí·as [faw-, lee, -ahs].

1. an early medieval Iberian dance accompanied by mime and songs, performed during celebrations of the solstice and New Year festivals.

folia

/ ˈfəʊlɪə /

noun

1. the plural of folium

Word History and Origins

Origin of folia¹

folía

Origin of folia²

1780–85; < Spanish folía or Portuguese folia literally, madness, folly ≪ Old Provençal, equivalent to fol foolish, mad + -ia -y ³; fool ¹, folly

Example Sentences

Look with insight into a small corner of the musical past, we learn from Savall, and history itself is folia writ large.

From Los Angeles Times

On my way to something else on YouTube, I happened on a word that invariably stops me dead: “folia,” meaning “madness” in several languages.

From New York Times

The host fungus for Liparis lilii­folia wasn’t common in the wild, but the orchid would germinate if the fungus was added.

From Scientific American

When the bands of folia are very fine and tortuous the structure is called helizitic.

From Project Gutenberg

Of these, among the earliest to present themselves are usually the micas, that impart their characteristic silvery sheen to the surfaces of the folia along which they spread.

From Project Gutenberg