Definition of: foliation

(fō′lē·ā′shən) noun
1. Bot. a The leafing–out of plants, b The disposition of leaves in a bud.
2. The act or process of making into thin sheet metal or foil, or of covering or backing with foil, as a mirror.
3. Archit. Decoration or enrichment with cusps, lobes, or foliated tracery; also, one of such ornaments.
4. The state of being foliaceous or foliated.
5. Geol. A crystalline segregation of certain minerals in a rock, in dominant planes.
6. The numbering of the leaves of a book, etc., instead of its pages. Also fo·li·a·ture (fō′lē·ə·chr′).