Leaflet
/ˈliːf.lət/noun
A small leaf or a small printed sheet of paper.
Did you know?Leaflet is a straightforward diminutive of leaf, and the paper-handout sense appears much later, when printers borrowed the image of a small leaf-like sheet for something meant to be scattered by hand.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
lēaf
“leaf; foliage”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*laubaz
“leaf”
Middle English
ME
leaf + -let
“a little leaf; a small leaf-like piece”
16th Century
English
leaflet
“a small leaf or leaf-shaped piece”
19th Century
English
leaflet
“a small printed handbill or pamphlet”