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How Do You Pronounce foliage?
Whether you’re a casual leaf peeper or a card-carrying botanist, a staunch New Englander or Caribbean beach bum, there’s plenty to love about foliage—though the pronunciation of foliage has long been a point of contention among English speakers. Most commonly accepted is the trisyllabic \FOH-lee-ij\. However, there’s no denying that the pronunciations \FOH-lij\ and even \FOY-lij\ have also staked their claim. The first of these disputed pronunciations is consistent with the pronunciation of the -iage ending in marriage and carriage. The second is often more fiercely denounced, in part because of its association with the nonstandard spelling foilage. But there’s redemption for this estranged pronunciation: foliage traces back to Middle French foille ("leaf"), which is also the source of the English word foil (as in "aluminum foil"). When adopted by Middle English speakers, foil originally meant "leaf." Love it or leaf it, there’s just no taking the "foil" out of foliage.
Examples of foliage in a Sentence
Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 8 Nov. 2025
Before dropping, foliage turns orange, red, burgundy, and purple.
—Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 8 Nov. 2025
With fall nearly halfway through, the vibrant hues of fall have come and gone in much of the United States, leaving foliage in midwestern and southern parts of the country left to change.
—Saleen Martin, USA Today, 7 Nov. 2025
Trimming to remove dead foliage or damage can be done at any time of the year.
—Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 7 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for foliage
Cite this Entry
“Foliage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foliage. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
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