folder English · revision 39953

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1552, R. Huloet, Abcedarium Anglico Latinum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈfəʊldə/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈfoʊldɚ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from the verb [[fold]] with the agent suffix [[-er]].^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024)^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A person who folds something: the OED's first example is in Richard Huloet's ''Abcedarium Anglico Latinum'' (1552),^(OED 2026) also Merriam-Webster's date;^(MWU 2024) Etymonline gives the 1550s.^(Etymonline) The Shorter Oxford dates this sense to the mid 17th century and notes that it is found earlier in ''unfolder''.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the person who folds, the word passed to things that fold: an instrument for folding paper (1846) and later machines that fold paper.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) In the United States a ''folder'' was a printed sheet that folds up, such as a map or a railway timetable, from 1889.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) The now usual sense, a folding cover for keeping loose papers, is recorded in Etymonline from 1903;^(Etymonline) the OED's first example is from 1911.^(OED 2026) In computing the word was used from 1983 for a named container in a graphical interface, in which files and other folders are kept.^(OED 2026) American students used ''folder'' in 1989 for someone who tires early and goes home from a party.^(GDoS) A separate, rare ''folder'', from ''fold'' in the sense "to pen sheep", meant a shepherd (1571).^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1552 – a person who folds something.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1846 – an instrument for folding paper.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1889 – (US) a printed sheet that folds up, such as a map or timetable.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1903 – a folding cover for loose papers.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1983 – (computing) a container for files in a graphical interface.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1989 – (US campus slang) someone who tires easily and leaves a party early.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A folded cover or holder of stiff [[paper]] or [[cardboard]], for keeping loose papers: ''She slid the contract into a blue folder.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (computing) A named place in a computer's [[file]] system, shown as an [[icon]], in which files and other folders are stored; a [[directory]].^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A printed sheet folded into pages, such as a [[leaflet]], map or timetable.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # A person or [[machine]] that folds things, especially paper.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[file folder]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fold]]

+ * [[binder]]

+ * [[file]]

+ * [[portfolio]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}