Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “exfoliation” come from?

Exfoliation comes from Latin exfoliāre, meaning to strip leaves from a plant.

exfoliation (English): The scaling off of a bone, a rock, or a mineral,...

Definitions

  1. The scaling off of a bone, a rock, or a mineral,...

Ancestry of “exfoliation”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinexfoliarepresent active infinitive of exfoliō;...
2Latinexfoliō—
3Latinfoliuma leaf; a petal; a sheet or leaf of paper
4Proto-Italic*foljom—
5Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰolh₃yomleaf
6Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰleh₃-bloom, flower
7Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰel-to sound; to speak, roar, bark; shiny, white; to...
8Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰōl-—

Words derived from “exfoliation”

  • pseudoexfoliation
  • chemexfoliation
  • microexfoliation
  • overexfoliation
Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰōl- →