-fold

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | 479 words | Copyright

-fold OE. -f(e)ald = OS. -fald (Du. -voud), (O)HG. -falt, ON. -faldr, Goth. -falþs, Gmc. terminal el. rel. to FOLD2 and equiv. to Gr. -paltos, -plasios, and more remotely with -plo- in Gr. haplóos single, diplóos double (L. duplus); appended to cardinal numerals and adjs. meaning ‘many’, orig. with the sense ‘folded in two, etc., folds’, ‘plaited in so many strands’. In OE. the adjs. were already used as sbs. and advs.

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T. F. HOAD. "-fold." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "-fold." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-fold2.html

T. F. HOAD. "-fold." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-fold2.html

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