The plural form of bifolium; a pair of facing pages in a manuscript or book that are written or printed together as a single unit.
From Latin 'bi-' (two) + 'folium' (leaf). The term evolved in medieval manuscript studies to describe the physical structure of books where two leaves were folded together.
Medieval scribes and monks thought about book structure so differently than we do—what they called 'bifolia' is literally the foundation of how books are bound today, with every signature being folded pairs of leaves.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.