Illustration of foolscap
- foolscap 1
foolscap
noun
fools·cap
ˈfülz-ˌkap 
variants
or less commonly fool's cap
1
: a cap or hood usually with bells worn by jesters
2
: a conical cap for slow or lazy students
3
usually foolscap
[from the watermark of a foolscap formerly applied to such paper]
: a size of paper formerly standard in Great Britain
broadly
: a piece of writing paper
Did you know?
You’d be well within your rights to respond “Surely, you jest!” to the notion that foolscap refers to a sheet of writing paper, and also specifically to a paper size of approximately 8" x 13", similar to that of a legal pad. After all, when foolscap was first used in the 1500s, it referred to an actual fool’s cap—the oft jingling headwear worn as part of a jester’s motley (a sense still used today). But we promise we do not jest. The connection between the whimsical chapeau and the paper is attributable to the former use of a watermark depicting a fool’s cap that was used on long sheets of writing or printing paper. There are various explanations for the introduction of this watermark—including the claim that a 1648 British parliamentary group substituted it for the royal arms during exceptionally turbulent times—but such explanations remain unsupported by historical evidence.
Examples of foolscap in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Think of Dickens and piles of foolscap and quill pens and Bob Cratchit.
—
John Kass,
chicagotribune.com,
4 July 2019
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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John Kass,
chicagotribune.com,
4 July 2019
Cite this Entry
“Foolscap.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foolscap. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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