-fold

English

Etymology

From Middle English -fold, -fald, -fauld, from Old English -feald (“-fold”), from Proto-Germanic *-falþaz (“-fold”), from Proto-Indo-European *-poltos (“-fold”), from *pel- (“to fold”). Cognate with Dutch -voud, Swedish -faldig (“-fold”), Latin -plus, -plex, Ancient Greek -παλτος (-paltos), -πλος (-plos), -πλόος (-plóos). More at fold.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

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Suffix

-fold

1. Used to make adjectives meaning times.

   There has been a threefold increase in inflation ( = inflation is three times what it was before)

   • 1991, Vittoria Cioce; Vince Castronovo; Barry M. Shmookler; et. al, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, "Increased Expression of the Laminin Receptor in Human Colon Cancer"

     The cancer tissue in two of the ... specimens ... exhibited a dramatic 23-fold increase in the laminin-receptor-mRNA levels.

   • 2011, Joel. E. Houghlum, Principles of Pharmacology for Athletic Trainers:

     "[Use] of a decimal without a zero to the left of the decimal (ie .5 instead of 0.5) has resulted in 10-fold error[.]

   • 2013, Jerome Strong, Spiritual Musings II: Sermons, Musings & Exegesis:

     Ezekiel outlines the harlotry of Judah followed by a thirty-two-fold judgment.

2. Used to make adverbs meaning times.

   Inflation has increased threefold ( = inflation is three times what it was before)

   • c. 1906, Silk Association of America, XXXV Annual Meeting of the Silk Association of America:

     A publication ... entitled "The Sixth Financial and Economical Annual of Japan" ... issued in 1906 ... says: ¶ "...[O]ur export trade had in ... thirty-two years increased thirty-four-fold with Asia, twenty-three-fold with America, and five-fold with Europe[.]

   • 2011, James R. Gibson, Farming the Frontier:

     His potatoes yielded forty-onefold in 1816 and his barley thirty-twofold in 1818.

   • 2014, Thomas R. Oliver, Guide to U.S. Health and Health Care Policy:

     In contrast, the number of Asian foreign born would increase twenty-two-fold to more than 11 million, and the number of Latin American foreign born would increase twenty-three-fold to 22 million.

Usage notes

• Some writers and speakers use constructions like "an increase by twofold" to mean "a twofold increase". This can lead to confusion, as the logical rendering of "an increase by twofold" would imply "a 200% increase of the original amount" and the latter "an increase to 200% of the original amount". Caution should be taken to avoid such confusion. Typically, -fold takes no preposition.
• In scientific contexts, "-fold" is sometimes appended to numerals (with the same sense), as in a 2010 paper by M.C. Stone et al., which mentions "10-fold up-regulation of the number of growing microtubules" in its abstract.

Derived terms

Note: -fold can be combined with the word for any positive integer. The words listed below are some of the most common combinations. These words are not hyphenated.

Translations

Anagrams

• FLOD

Danish

Suffix

-fold

1. (rare) Used to make adjectives meaning times.
2. Used to make adverbs meaning times.
   • 2010, Knud H. Thomsen, Knud H. Thomsen (Pichard), Klokken i Makedonien, Gyldendal A/S (→ISBN)

     Inde i den lød tonerne af „Lili Marlene“, og fra bjergene svarede ekkoet tifold tilbage.

     Inside it came the tones of "Lili Marlene", and from the mountains the echo replied tenfold.

Synonyms

• gange

References

• “-fold” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog
• “-fold” in Den Danske Ordbog

Middle English

Alternative forms

• -fald, -falde, -feld, -folde, -vald
• (early) -feald

Etymology

Inherited from Old English -feald, from Proto-West Germanic *-falþ, from Proto-Germanic *-falþaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /-fɔːld/
• (early) IPA^(key): /-fɑːld/

Suffix

-fold

1. Forms adjectives meaning "times" or "parts"; -fold.

Derived terms

Descendants

• English: -fold
• Scots: -fauld, -faul, -fald

References

• “-fōld, suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.