Obs. rare. [? a. OF. foliot.
The OF. word is recorded only as meaning watch-spring; but according to Hatz.-Darm. it is derived from the vb. folier to play the fool, to dance about, and so may have had other meanings related to this vb. Cf. the surname Foliot, known from 12th c. in Eng. How Burton obtained the word there is nothing to show; he evidently connects it with It. folletto, = F. (esprit) follet, hobgoblin, properly a dim. of fol foolish. Can it be a misprint for follet?]
1. ? Foolish matter.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 866. Ne singe ih hom no foliot.
2. A kind of goblin.
1621. Burton, Anat. Mel., I. ii. i. ii. Another kinde of these [devils] there are, which frequent forlorne houses, which the Italians call Foliots. [He refers to Cardano, De rerum var., XVI. (1581), 1123. Dæmon est familiaris, uocant folletos.]
