fold
pronunciation
How to pronounce fold in British English:
UK [fəʊld]
How to pronounce fold in American English:
US [foʊld]
-
- Noun:
- an angular or rounded shape made by folding
- a group of people who adhere to a common faith and habitually attend a given church
- a folded part (as a fold of skin or muscle)
- a pen for sheep
- the act of folding
-
- Verb:
- bend or lay so that one part covers the other
- intertwine
- incorporate a food ingredient into a mixture by repeatedly turning it over without stirring or beating
- cease to operate or cause to cease operating
- confine in a fold, like sheep
- become folded or folded up
Word Origin
- fold
- fold: [OE] The verb fold comes ultimately from the Indo-European base *pel-, which also produced Latin plicāre ‘fold’ (source of or related to English accomplice, complicated, explicit, perplex, plait, pleat, pliant, pliers, plight, ply, reply, and supple) and the final element -ple or -ble in such words as simple, double, or triple (which are hence related to the parallel Germanic formations twofold, threefold, etc).Its Germanic descendant was *falthan, from which are descended German falten, Dutch vouwen, Danish folde, and English fold. The noun fold ‘enclosure for animals’ is of Germanic origin (Dutch has the related vaalt), but its distant antecedents are unknown.=> accomplice, complicated, explicit, perplex, plait, pleat, pliers, plight, ply, reply, supple
- fold (v.)
- Old English faldan (Mercian), fealdan (West Saxon), transitive, "to bend (cloth) back over itself, wrap up, furl," class VII strong verb (past tense feold, past participle fealden), from Proto-Germanic *falthan, *faldan (cognates: Middle Dutch vouden, Dutch vouwen, Old Norse falda, Middle Low German volden, Old High German faldan, German falten, Gothic falþan). The Germanic words are from PIE *pel-to- (cognates: Sanskrit putah "fold, pocket," Albanian pale "fold," Middle Irish alt "a joint," Lithuanian pleta "I plait"), from root *pel- (3) "to fold" (also source of Greek ploos "fold," Latin -plus). Of the arms, from late Old English. Intransitive sense "become doubled upon itself" is from c. 1300 (of the body); earlier "give way, fail" (mid-13c.). Sense of "to yield to pressure" is from late 14c. The weak conjugation developed from 15c. Related: Folded; folding.
- fold (n.1)
- "pen or enclosure for sheep or other domestic animals," Old English falæd, falud "stall, stable, cattle-pen," a general Germanic word (cognates: East Frisian folt "enclosure, dunghill," Dutch vaalt "dunghill," Danish fold "pen for sheep"), of uncertain origin. Figurative use by mid-14c.
- fold (n.2)
- "a bend or ply in anything," mid-13c., from fold (v.). Compare similarly formed Middle Dutch voude, Dutch vouw, Old High German falt, German Falte, Old Norse faldr.
Example
- 1. Players use their computers to fold proteins .
- 2. Most of us think we should fold our t-shirts and hang our sweaters .
- 3. Do not fold or staple the resume . Send it flat in a large envelope .
- 4. Push a button and the wings fold up , allowing the pilot to start driving it like a car .
- 5. Fold a light-colored cloth and place it underneath the stain to prevent the stain from spreading to more fabric .