fold

Pronunciation: /ˈfəʊld/

The English word “fold” has 20 meanings listed here.

verb

To bend (any thin material, such as paper) over so that it comes in contact with itself.
To make the proper arrangement (in a thin material) by bending.
To draw or coil (one’s arms, a snake’s body, etc.) around something so as to enclose or embrace it.
To stir (semisolid ingredients) gently, with an action as if folding over a solid.
To become folded; to form folds.
To fall over; to collapse or give way; to be crushed.
To give way on a point or in an argument.
To withdraw from betting.
To withdraw or quit in general.
To fail, to collapse, to disband.
Of a company, to cease to trade.
To double or lay together (one’s arms, hands, wings, etc.) so as to overlap with each other.
To plait or mat (hair) together.
To enclose in a fold of material, to swathe, wrap up, cover, enwrap.
To enclose within folded arms, to clasp, to embrace (see also enfold).
To cover up, to conceal.
To ensnare, to capture.
To split (a line of text) across multiple lines, to obey line length limitations.

noun

An act of folding.
Any correct move in origami.

Etymology

The verb is from Middle English folden, from Old English fealdan, from Proto-West Germanic *falþan, from Proto-Germanic *falþaną (“to fold”), from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to fold”). Cognate with Dutch vouwen, German falten. The noun is from Middle English folde, falde, itself derived from the verb.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.