folio

/ˈfəʊlɪəʊ/

//ˈfəʊlɪəʊ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"folio" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“folio” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #25,063. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#25,063
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A leaf of a book or manuscript.

Corpus desk

Index EN-folio · folio · English

folio · rank #25,063 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #25,063
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH flurry

Nearest frequency peer: flurry (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “folio”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “folio” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

folio vs foo
60% similar
folio vs folk
60% similar
folio vs FOMO
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for folio
PropertyValue
Headwordfolio
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈfəʊlɪəʊ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#25,063
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “folio”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).foliolands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “flurry” (#25,062), “fleas” (#25,061), “franc” (#25,065). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “folio” is #25,063. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around folio (IPA /ˈfəʊlɪəʊ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #25,063 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for folio, with forms such as "ffolio", "floio", and "foilo". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "foo", "folk", "FOMO", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English folio (“leaf of a book”), borrowed from Medieval Latin foliō, Late Latin foliō, Latin foliō, the ablative singular form of Late Latin folium (“leaf or sheet of paper”), Latin folium (“leaf of a plant”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-Europea… The correct English form is folio, spelled F-O-L-I-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    A leaf of a book or manuscript.
  2. 2
    A page of a book, that is, one side of a leaf of a book.
  3. 3
    A page number. The even folios are on the left-hand pages and the odd folios on the right-hand pages.
  4. 4
    A sheet of paper folded in half.
  5. 5
    A book made of sheets of paper each folded in half (two leaves or four pages to the sheet); hence, a book of the largest kind, exceeding 30 centimetres in height.
  6. 6
    A wrapper for loose papers.
  7. 7
    A page in an account book; sometimes, two opposite pages bearing the same serial number.
  8. 8
    A protective case with a flap that folds to cover the screen of a mobile device.
  9. 9
    A leaf containing a certain number of words; hence, a certain number of words in a piece of writing, as in England, in law proceedings 72, and in chancery, 90; in New York, 100 words.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how folio appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. [Thomas] Hood also presented his treatises in such a way that conveniently accessing specific lessons was difficult, if not impossible, for the reader-practitioner. For example, his book entitled The Vse of Both the Globes, Celestiall and Terrestriall... (1592) was roughly two hundred pages long but did not include such helpful tools as an index, a table…
  2. We saw above that the fourth quire consists of ten folios, two of which (folios 29 and 31) Richer added to a quaternion (folios 23 to 28, 30, 32). Most of the folios Richer added to his manuscript supplement, elaborate, or amend text that he had already composed in the codex. In this quire, however, Richer wrote around the added folios as if it was the qu…

Etymology

From Middle English folio (“leaf of a book”), borrowed from Medieval Latin foliō, Late Latin foliō, Latin foliō, the ablative singular form of Late Latin folium (“leaf or sheet of paper”), Latin folium (“leaf of a plant”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“bloom, flower”). Doublet of foil and folium, and distantly related to phyllo and phyllon. Senses 1, 2, 3.1, 5, and 6 relating to a leaf or page are derived from Medieval Latin foliō in references; sense 5 (“page in an account book”) may be derived from Italian foglio (“rectangular sheet of paper”), from Latin folium. Senses 3.2 and 3.3 relating to a paper size are from Italian in foglio or its etymon Latin in foliō.

This word in other languages

folio(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ffolio
  • floio
  • foilo
  • follio
  • foloi
  • oflio

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of folio - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ffolio1floio2foilo2follio1foloi2oflio2
Edit distance from "folio"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "folio"?
"folio" is spelled F-O-L-I-O. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfəʊlɪəʊ/.
What does "folio" mean?
As a noun, "folio" means: A leaf of a book or manuscript.
What words are commonly confused with "folio"?
"folio" is commonly confused with "foo", "folk", "FOMO". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "folio"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "folio" is /ˈfəʊlɪəʊ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "folio"?
From Middle English folio (“leaf of a book”), borrowed from Medieval Latin foliō, Late Latin foliō, Latin foliō, the ablative singular form of Late Latin folium (“leaf or sheet of paper”), Latin folium (“leaf of a plant”), ultimately from Proto-In... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "folio", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

fleas#25,061franc#25,065fives#25,060Ennis#25,049

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

Dahl6 variantskiln6 variantscanes6 variantspang6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list