Folioles

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Small leaf structures that are components of larger, compound leaves are referred to as distinct leaflets
2. These are the smaller divisions or segments of a compound leaf that contribute to its overall structure
3. Tiny individual leaf segments that together form a compound leaf structure

Etymology: "Folioles" is the plural of "foliole", a botanical term for one of the individual leaflets that make up a compound leaf, such as each segment of a rose or ash leaf. It is a diminutive formed from Latin "folium", meaning "leaf", so the word literally means "little leaf". The same Latin stem gives English "foliage", "foliate" and "folio", the last of which originally meant a leaf of paper. The pattern is a classic one in scientific naming: a small part of a plant is given a diminutive ending to mark it as smaller than the whole. French has the parallel form "foliole", and English botanists borrowed the term with the same meaning, so the diminutive quietly describes what the botanist is looking at: a leaf that is only a part of a leaf.

Synonyms: leaflets