Foolscap definitions

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FOOLS'CAP, n. [L. scapus, or folio and shape.] A kind of paper of small size.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a size of paper used especially in Britain

Merriam Webster's

also fool's cap noun Date: 1602 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

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. Brit. a size of paper, about 330 x 200 (or 400) mm. Etymology: named from the former watermark representing a fool's cap

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Foolscap Fools"cap`, n. [So called from the watermark of a fool's cap and bells used by old paper makers. See Fool's cap, under Fool.] A writing paper made in sheets, ordinarily 16 x 13 inches, and folded so as to make a page 13 x 8 inches. See Paper.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Foolscap is paper which is about 34 centimetres by 43 centimetres in size. (mainly BRIT)