Flyleaf

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈflaɪˌlif/

Definitions

1. A blank or decorative page found at the front or back of a book serves to protect the interior and add an artistic touch to the overall presentation
2. This term describes an unprinted page located at the beginning or end of a book that provides a buffer for the cover and contributes to the book's visual appeal
3. A page without text or with decoration placed at the front or rear of a bound book to shield the pages inside

Etymology: The fly in "flyleaf" is not the insect. The word was formed in English by combining "fly," in the sense of a loose or hanging sheet, with "leaf," a page. Early bookbinders used the term for the blank leaves that hang loose at the front and back of a volume, and the name describes exactly that: a page that moves freely, unattached to the text block beyond its glued edge. The "leaf" half descends from Old English "lēaf," which meant the leaf of a plant and also a sheet of paper or a page of a book, a sense that goes back to Proto-Germanic "laubą." Its meaning as a page of a book has persisted in English for centuries, so a flyleaf is, in a sense, a page that is simply a leaf of paper in its most basic form.

Synonyms: blank page, endpaper, frontleaf