onefold, a.
(ˈwʌnfəʊld)
[f. one + -fold.
OE. had ánfald, -feald, whence ME. north. anfald, afald, south. ofold, q.v. A single instance of oone-fold (perh. a scribal alteration of northern anfald) is recorded in 5; but the extant word seems to be a new formation.]
1. Consisting of only one member or constituent; single; simple.
| [c 1460 Towneley Myst. xiv. 554 Hayll, oone-fold god in persons thre!] 1844 Lingard Anglo-Sax. Ch. (1858) II. x. 122 The trial for greater crimes was called the threefold, that for smaller, the onefold ordeal. 1861 Cornh. Mag. III. 549 The subject ought to be onefold instead of threefold. 1897 R. H. Story Apost. Min. Scot. Ch. iv. 144 The Gaelic preacher, like Origen, was not content to extract a onefold lesson from his text. |
2. Simple in character; simple-minded; single-minded; free from duplicity.
| 1882 Macdonald Weighed & Wanting II. vi. 54 Many a one imitates simplicity, but Amy was simple—one-fold. |
Hence ˈonefoldness, singleness, unity; simplicity.
| 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 23 The naked essence of God is as much his all-knowingness, his all-fillingness, or his onefoldness, as his everlastingness. 1887 Librar. Mag. May 149 The simplicity..which is opposed to duplicity, and which may be called one-foldness. |