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🔺 Having three parts 3️⃣ Three times as many 📈 By three times
threefold

threefold

3 4.5
Having three parts or aspects
  • adjective
  • /ˈθriːfoʊld/
translation icon : triple
  • The Spanish crisis is threefold: it is a crisis of representation, of authority, and of confidence.
  • threefold objective
  • threefold goal
  • threefold purpose

The preconditions for the pursuit of truth are threefold.

Examples

  • The goals of the introduction to this special series are threefold.

    Academic text (2011)

  • The Advent message is threefold: the message of Change, the message of the Kingdom, and the message of Judgment.

    Academic text (2017)

  • The tiny kitchen at the rear of the shop served a threefold purpose, all told.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Based on the literature reviewed above, the objectives of this study were threefold.

    Academic text (2004)

  • In summary, the benefits of providing these types of intervention programs for gifted girls are threefold.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Thus, my threefold argument is that the maternity ward presents an unusual encounter zone embodying various contradictions.

    Academic text (2009)

  • The hero archetype displays a threefold pattern: isolation, initiation, and worldly return.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Deng's objectives of political reform were threefold: consolidating the socialist system, developing the socialist productive forces, and expanding socialist democracy.

    Academic text (1998)

  • The empirical measures of democracy are threefold: Polity IV, Freedom House (FH), and Democracy and Development (DD; Dahl et al., 2003).

    Academic text (2017)

  • The project has a threefold structure, consisting of research, implementation, and evaluation.

Synonyms

triple
vsthreefold
194 2.6

Made of three parts or three times as much

emphasizes being three in character rather than only measuring amount
three-pronged
vsthreefold
2 4.0

With three points or parts like a fork

is about three parts in general, not specifically physical projections
trifold
vsthreefold
5.6

Three times the normal amount or size

describes having three parts or aspects rather than amount or degree
treble
vsthreefold
5.9

Three times as much

focuses on the three-part nature rather than mainly quantity or sound
triplex
vsthreefold
8.1

Having three parts

is more general about three parts or aspects across contexts
triadic
vsthreefold
6.9

Having three parts or people working together

is broader, naming three parts without highlighting relational grouping
trinary
vsthreefold
  • Specialized
7.5

Something that has three parts or values

is the general description of having three parts rather than numeric systems
ternary
vsthreefold
  • Specialized
7.7

Having three parts

places slightly more stress on character and aspects than on form
trichotomous
vsthreefold
9.9

Divided into three separate parts

speaks of having three parts without insisting they are distinct divisions

How Many

tenfold
1 4.1
eightfold
1 5.8
sixfold
1 4.7
fourfold
3 5.1
threefold
3 4.5
twofold
15 4.0
one
1.0

Surface Forms

threefold positive

Morphology

threefold = three (transparent) = three + fold

The numeral 'three' combined with the productive suffix '-fold' directly yields 'having three parts' in a straightforward derivation.

Etymology

Threefold comes from three + fold, where fold once meant 'layers' or 'parts', like folding cloth into sections. So threefold means 'having three parts' or being made of 'three layers'.