Curses, foiled again!

October 21st, 2008 at 07:00am Barry Wood

One of the best things about autumn in this area is the colorful foliage, pronounced “FO-lee-ij.” The next time you hear someone say “foil” for the first syllable, think more kindly of that person. In Middle English, the word was actually spelled “foilage.”

Its Latin ancestor is “folium,” “a leaf.” The word “foil” has the same lineage. Not “foil” the sword or “foil” the verb for “to thwart” or “frustrate,” but “foil” as in a thin layer of material, such as aluminum foil, often incorrectly called tin foil.

Other members of this family are “folio” (leaves as in books), “foliate” and, logically, “exfoliate,” a fancy word in skin care for “to cast or come off in flakes, scales or layers.” It sounds better to say “I’m exfoliating” than “I’m removing my skin in layers.”

Entry Filed under: pronunciation, word origins