n. [ Cf. F. foliation. ] 1. The process of forming into a leaf or leaves. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. The manner in which the young leaves are dispo&unr_;ed within the bud. [ 1913 Webster ] The . . . foliation must be in relation to the stem. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. The act of beating a metal into a thin plate, leaf, foil, or lamina. [ 1913 Webster ] 4. The act of coating with an amalgam of tin foil and quicksilver, as in making looking-glasses. [ 1913 Webster ] 5. (Arch.) The enrichment of an opening by means of foils, arranged in trefoils, quatrefoils, etc.; also, one of the ornaments. See Tracery. [ 1913 Webster ] 6. (Geol.) The property, possessed by some crystalline rocks, of dividing into plates or slabs, which is due to the cleavage structure of one of the constituents, as mica or hornblende. It may sometimes include slaty structure or cleavage, though the latter is usually independent of any mineral constituent, and transverse to the bedding, it having been produced by pressure. [ 1913 Webster ] | 
