Onefold

adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Constituting or being indicative of a single aspect or theme. not-comparable
  2. 2
    Consisting of a single undivided part; whole; complete. not-comparable

    "There the soul is onefold, pure and chaste, and empty of all things."

  3. 3
    Simple, plain, straightforward. not-comparable

    "[Her] object was simple enough; but it was too simple—too onefold (if I may borrow an expressive word from my native tongue: ae-fauld we write it in Scotch) for the apprehension of ordinary persons[.]"

  4. 4
    Singular, as opposite to plural. not-comparable

    "Ye see how ready men are to misconstrue and pervert the onefold meaning of the Lord."

Example

More examples

"There the soul is onefold, pure and chaste, and empty of all things."

Etymology

From Middle English onfold, anfald (“single, simple, honest, onefold”), from Old English ānfeald (“single, simple”, literally “onefold”), from Proto-West Germanic *ainfald, from Proto-Germanic *ainafalþaz (“onefold, simple”), equivalent to one + -fold. Cognate with Dutch eenvoud (“simplicity, easiness”), German Einfalt (“simplicity”) and einfach (“simple”), Icelandic einfaldur (“simple”), Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍆𐌰𐌻𐌸𐍃 (ainfalþs, “simple”). More at one, -fold.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.