THREE-fohld
/ˈθɹiˌfoʊld/
threefold is pronounced THREE-fohld (/ˈθɹiˌfoʊld/). Threefold means three times as great or as many; occurring in three parts or aspects. It describes something that is triple in size, amount, or effect, and is often used to denote multiplicity or division into three components. In usage, it can modify nouns or describe proportions and outcomes across three related dimensions.
Threefold means three times as great or as many; occurring in three parts or aspects. It describes something that is triple in size, amount, or effect, and is often used to denote multiplicity or division into three components. In usage, it can modify nouns or describe proportions and outcomes across three related dimensions.
"The project faced a threefold increase in cost and complexity."
"Investors expect threefold growth over the next five years."
"The festival offers a threefold program: music, art, and food."
Stress falls on the first syllable: THREE-fold. In IPA: US ˈθriˌfoʊld, UK ˈθriːˌfəʊld, AU ˈθriːˌfəʊld. Start with the /θ/ sound as in think, then /r/ with a light alveolar tap depending on accent, the vowel is a long /iː/ in many varieties, followed by a clear /foʊld/ with the /oʊ/ diphthong. The second syllable carries secondary stress or a light secondary weight: /tiː/ or /ˌfiː/ depending on the variant. End with /ld/; ensure the /l/ is light and the /d/ is clear.
Mistakes often include reducing the /θ/ to /f/ or /s/, or flattening the diphthong in the second syllable to a schwa. Another error is misplacing stress, giving equal weight to both syllables or stressing the second syllable. Corrective tips: pronounce /θ/ with a thin-lip air flow, maintain a clear long vowel in /riː/ or /ri/ depending on the accent, and keep the /foʊld/ intact with back rounding for the /oʊ/ and a crisp /ld/ at the end. Practice by chunking: THREE-fold, not thre-FOLD.
In US English, you’ll often hear /ˈθriˌfoʊld/ with a distinct, slightly shorter second syllable and a less vowel reduction in /ri/. In UK English, /ˈθriːˌfəʊld/ features a longer /iː/ in the first core syllable and a rounded /əʊ/ in the second, with a more pronounced vowel quality shift. Australian English tends toward /ˈθriːˌfəʊld/ similar to UK, but with a more centralized or rhotic-touched /r/ depending on speaker. All varieties keep /θ/ initial and end with /ld/.
The difficulty lies in the initial /θ/ blend and the triplet of articulations: a fricative /θ/, followed by an /r/ with potential tongue-tip contact, and then the hard /ld/ ending. The /riː/ or /ri/ portion can become a reduced vowel if spoken quickly, altering rhythm. The secondary stress on the glide between syllables can also be tricky when maintaining clarity in fast speech. Focus on segmenting sounds cleanly and preserving the diphthong in /foʊld/.
A unique aspect is the linkage between the vowel length in the first syllable and the following diphthong in the second; the phrase often truncates the middle vowel in rapid speech, so you should practice keeping the /riː/ or /ri/ as a distinct nucleus before the /foʊld/. This helps avoid slurring into ’threefold’ as ‘threefold’ without a clear boundary, preserving the triadic emphasis of the term.
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US: /ˈθriˌfoʊld/ with a lighter rhotic involvement; UK/AU: /ˈθriːˌfəʊld/ with a longer first vowel and more rounded second diphthong. Vowel quality: US /ri/ tends toward a shorter, tenser vowel; UK/AU favor lengthened /riː/ and a stronger /əʊ/ in /foʊld/. Consonant: keep /θ/ soft and unvoiced; /ld/ crisp with clear lateral contact. IPA references: US /ˈθriˌfoʊld/, UK /ˈθriːˌfəʊld/, AU /ˈθriːˌfəʊld/.
Threefold derives from the combination of the numeral three with theOld English suffix -fold, meaning ‘a fold, layer, or division.’ The form likely follows a common Germanic pattern where numerals combine with -fold to indicate multiplicity or proportion. In Middle English, threefold appeared as a compound indicating something consisting of three parts or multiples of three; its usage expanded to describe triple proportions in mathematics, economics, and philosophy. The sense of multiplicity—three layers, three components, or threefold increase—became a standard figurative device in English texts from the late medieval period onward. The word aligns with parallel formations such as twofold and fourfold, and shares cognate roots with Dutch drievoudig and German dreifach, all emphasizing triadic structure. First attested forms appear in legal and scholastic writing where precise proportionality was essential, and the term has retained stability across centuries, maintaining its compound, non-inflected adjective/adverbial function in modern usage.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "threefold" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "threefold"
-old sounds
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