fourfold, a., adv., and n.
(ˈfɔəfəʊld)
[f. four + -fold.]
A. adj.
1. Consisting of four things; made up of four parts.
| c 1275 Lay. 1356 To þan lond hii verden þare hii leof folk funden fouruald ferde. a 1300 Cursor M. 28974 Chastiyng o flexs foure fald to tak, In praier, fasting, wand, and wak. 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. ix. 70 A four-fold Advantage. 1823 H. J. Brooke Introd. Crystallogr. 58 A four-fold cleavage, or one in four directions, will produce a tetrahedron. 1838 Thirlwall Greece II. xi. 4 The four⁓fold distribution of the country is the foundation of another tradition. 1877 A. B. Edwards Up Nile xii. 341 The four⁓fold surroundings of Philæ—the cataract, the river, the desert, the environing mountains. |
2. Four times as great or numerous: quadruple.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke xix. 8 Gif ic æniᵹne bereafode ic hit be feowerfealdum agyfe. 1557 Recorde Whetst. B ij, Quadrupla. 4 to 1: 8 to 2..Fowerfolde. a 1650 May Old Couple iv. i, 2nd Neigh. All happiness betide you. 3rd Neigh. And a reward four-fold in th' other world. |
3. Comb., as fourfold-visaged adj.
| 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 845 Nor less on either side tempestuous fell, His arrows, from the fourfold-visag'd foure. |
B. adv. In fourfold proportion.
| 1535 Coverdale 2 Sam. xii. 6 The shepe also shal he make good foure folde. 1873 B. Stewart Conserv. Energy i. 14 Its penetrating power is increased nearly fourfold. 1875 Scrivener Lect. Text N. Test. 7 [They] amount to at least fourfold that quantity. |
C. n. A fourfold amount. † Also spec. in U.S., ‘A quadruple assessment for neglect to make return of taxable estate’; hence ˈfourfold v., ‘to assess in a fourfold ratio’ (Webster Compend. Dict. 1806).
| c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 209 Ȝif y have ought bigiled ony Y ȝelde aȝen þe forefold. 1611 Bible Luke xix. 8, I restore him foure fold. 1779 Vermont St. Papers (1823) 296 The listers shall add the sum total of such additions and four-folds, to the sum total before mentioned. |