Dictionary.com
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?

Origin of fold

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English verb folden, falden, faulden, Old English fealdan, faldan; cognate with Gothic falthan, Old Norse falda, German falten; akin to Latin plicāre “to fold,” plectere to plait, twine,” Greek plékein “to braid, knit”; cf. plait; see origin at -fold

OTHER WORDS FROM fold

fold·a·ble, adjective

Other definitions for fold (2 of 3)

fold2
[ fohld ]
/ foʊld /

noun
verb (used with object)
to confine (sheep or other domestic animals) in a fold.

Origin of fold

2
First recorded before 900; Middle English fold, fald, feld “sheepfold,” Old English fald, falod, falud “sheepfold, ox stall, stable”; akin to Old Saxon faled “pen, enclosure,” Middle Low German vaalt “pen, enclosure, manure heap,” Middle Dutch vaelt, vaelde

Other definitions for fold (3 of 3)

-fold

a native English suffix meaning “of so many parts,” or denoting multiplication by the number indicated by the stem or word to which the suffix is attached: twofold; manifold.

Origin of -fold

Middle English; Old English -fald, -feald, cognate with Old Frisian, Old Saxon -fald,German -falt,Old Norse -faldr,Gothic -falths, all representing the Germanic base of fold1; akin to Greek -ploos, -plous (see haplo-, diplo-), Latin -plus (see simple, double, etc.), -plex-plex
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use fold in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for fold (1 of 3)

fold1
/ (fəʊld) /

verb
noun
See also fold up

Derived forms of fold

foldable, adjective

Word Origin for fold

Old English fealdan; related to Old Norse falda , Old High German faldan, Latin duplus double, Greek haploos simple

British Dictionary definitions for fold (2 of 3)

fold2
/ (fəʊld) /

noun
  1. a small enclosure or pen for sheep or other livestock, where they can be gathered
  2. the sheep or other livestock gathered in such an enclosure
  3. a flock of sheep
  4. a herd of Highland cattle
a church or the members of it
any group or community sharing a way of life or holding the same values
verb
(tr) to gather or confine (sheep or other livestock) in a fold

Word Origin for fold

Old English falod; related to Old Saxon faled, Middle Dutch vaelt

British Dictionary definitions for fold (3 of 3)

-fold

suffix forming adjectives, suffix forming adverbs
having so many parts, being so many times as much or as many, or multiplied by so much or so manythreefold; three-hundredfold

Word Origin for -fold

Old English -fald, -feald
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for fold

fold
[ fōld ]

A bend in a layer of rock or in another planar feature such as foliation or the cleavage of a mineral. Folds occur as the result of deformation, usually associated with plate-tectonic forces.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with fold

fold

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
FEEDBACK