Etymograph

English

fold

Fold comes from Middle English folden ‘to fold’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pel-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pel-1‘to fold’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*falþaną1‘to fold’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*falþan1‘to fold’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150fealdan1‘to fold’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500folden1‘to fold’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1594fold1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English fold
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto): “I will not poyſon thee with my attaint, /…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pel-Wiktionary, English fold‘to fold’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*falþanąWiktionary, English fold‘to fold’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*falþanWiktionary, English fold‘to fold’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150fealdanWiktionary, English fold‘to fold’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500foldenWiktionary, English fold‘to fold’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1594foldWiktionary, English fold. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto): “I will not poyſon thee with my attaint, /…”

The story

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’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pel- ‘to fold’

film, felt, simple, simply, push, filter, powder, complain, pulse, pillow, repeal, flaw, palate, compulsive, expel, repel, palpable, palladium, pollen, propel, palatable, pall, pelt, wallow, peloton, tuple, palatal, polemic, muffle, pollinate, apoplexy, peplum, pulver, palp, pillion, interpolate, 63 more

Another origin of fold

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*faludaz‘enclosure’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*falud‘fold, pen for animals’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150fald‘fold, stall, stable, cattle-pen’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fold‘a pen, enclosure, or shelter for domesticated animals’
  5. Englishtodayfold

The noun is from Middle English fold, fald, from Old English fald, falæd, falod (‘fold, stall, stable, cattle-pen’), from Proto-West Germanic *falud, from Proto-Germanic *faludaz (‘enclosure’). The verb is from Late Middle English fooldyn, itself derived from the noun.

Another origin of fold

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fuldǭ‘earth, ground’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150folde‘earth, land, country, district, region, territory, ground, soil, clay’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500folde
  4. Englishtodayfold

Today it means

verb To bend (any thin material, such as paper) over so that it comes in contact with itself.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fold”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pel- / fold

Shirt and support for this word