-fold

Definition

Used to make adjectives meaning times.

Etymology

From Middle English -fold, -fald, -fauld, from Old English -feald (“-fold”), from Proto-West Germanic *-falþ, 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.

Example Sentences

• "There has been a threefold increase in inflation ( = inflation is three times what it was before)"
• "The cancer tissue in two of the ... specimens ... exhibited a dramatic 23-fold increase in the laminin-receptor-mRNA levels."
• ""[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[.]"