befold

B3E1F4O1L1D2

verb

To fold up; fold around; wrap up; envelop.

OriginMiddle English bifealden ← Old English befealdan →
Scrabble 12
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Meanings

verbbefold (third-person singular simple present befolds, present participle befolding, simple past befolded or (obsolete) befeld, past participle befolded or (obsolete) befeld or (obsolete) befolden)

present singular third person befolds · participle present befolding · past befolded · obsolete past befeld · participle past befolded · obsolete participle past befeld · obsolete participle past befolden

  1. transitiveTo fold up; fold around; wrap up; envelop.

    Abo sits befolded up Shadeside of a namma hole [...]

    2008, George D. Shorten, The Low Bed of a Faller
    2 more examples

    And when I rant and rave and raise hell about the power structure and about slaverytood, and nigratood, and nigraism, and everything else that befolds me being a black woman every day, I still love people.

    1974, Harrisene Jackson, There's nothing I own that I want

    So, brothers and sisters that is God's law and God's punishment that befolds a person who during their life does not acknowledge or feels the greatness of God and God's reality.

    2002, Simon Monbaron, How to Develop Peace in the World

Origin

  1. Old Englishbefealdan“to fold, roll up, envelop, clasp, surround, involve, cover, attach”
  2. Middle Englishbifealden
  3. Englishbefold

From Middle English bifealden, bevealden, from Old English befealdan (“to fold, roll up, envelop, clasp, surround, involve, cover, attach”), equivalent to be- (“around, about”) + fold. Cognate with Old High German bifaltan (“to envelop”).

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

befold. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/befold

MLA

“befold.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/befold. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “befold,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/befold.

Source: befold on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.