fold
/ˈfəʊld/verb, noun
fold is spelled F-O-L-D: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,230th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, fold means “To bend (any thin material, such as paper) over so that it comes in contact with itself” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in fold?
| Letters | 4: F-O-L-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 12 times per million words; the 6,230th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is fold?
Fold appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,230th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce fold?
- UK /ˈfəʊld/
- UK [ˈfɒʊɫd]
- /ˈfɒld/
Fold has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us--fold.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-fold.wav, En-us-fold.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with fold?
9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as fold from its last stressed vowel (/əʊld/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of fold
- folds present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- folding participle, present
- folded past, participle
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does fold mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To bend (any thin material, such as paper) over so that it comes in contact with itself.
Next, fold the paper over, so the right half is on top of the left half.
- 2
To make the proper arrangement (in a thin material) by bending.
If you fold the sheets, they'll fit more easily in the drawer.
- 3
To draw or coil (one’s arms, a snake’s body, etc.) around something so as to enclose or embrace it.
- 4
To stir (semisolid ingredients) gently, with an action as if folding over a solid.
Fold the egg whites into the batter.
- 5
To become folded; to form folds.
Cardboard doesn't fold very easily.
- 6
informalTo fall over; to collapse or give way; to be crushed.
The chair folded under his enormous weight.
- 7
To give way on a point or in an argument.
He folded that point and didn't bring it up again.
- 8
To withdraw from betting.
With no hearts in the river and no chance to hit his straight, he folded.
- 9
To confine (animals) in a fold, to pen in.
- 10
To include in a spiritual ‘flock’ or group of the saved, etc.
- 11
To place sheep on (a piece of land) in order to manure it.
noun
- 1
An act of folding.
give the bedsheets a fold before putting them in the cupboard.
- 2
Any correct move in origami.
- 3
A bend or crease.
- 4
A layer, such as of of folded or wrapped cloth.
- 5
A clasp, embrace.
- 6
A coil of a snake’s body.
- 7
One of the doorleaves of a folding door.
- 8
A gentle curve of the ground; gentle hill or valley.
- 9
A pen or enclosure for sheep or other domestic animals.
- 10
Any enclosed piece of land belonging to a farm or mill; yard, farmyard.
- 11
An enclosure or dwelling generally.
- 12
A group of sheep or goats, particularly those kept in a given enclosure.
- 13
Home, family.
- 14
A church congregation, a group of people who adhere to a common faith and habitually attend a given church; also, the Christian church as a whole, the flock of Christ.
- 15
A group of people with shared ideas or goals or who live or work together.
- 16
The Earth; earth; land; country.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Fold in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | see example) , plier , incorporer délicatement , s’effondrer, s’écrouler , se replier |
| German | -fach, -fache , falten, falzen , -faltig , zusammenlegen |
| Portuguese | see example) , dobrar , ceder , em X vezes , passar , dobradura |
| Spanish | see example) , plegar, doblar , incorporar , doblarse, derribarse |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does fold come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).