unfold.
To undo a folding.
Meaning & usage
To undo a folding.
to unfold a map; to unfold a tablecloth; She unpacks the new dress and unfolds it carefully.
To become unfolded.
The curtains unfolded to reveal the stage.
To turn out; to happen; to develop.
Events unfolded in an unexpected way.
To lay open to view or contemplation; to bring out in all the details, or by successive development; to reveal.
to unfold one's designs; to unfold the principles of a science
To reassemble a line of text that was split across multiple lines.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English unfolden, from Old English unfealdan (“to unfold”), equivalent to un- + fold.
In functional programming, a kind of higher-order function that is the opposite of a fold.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English unfolden, from Old English unfealdan (“to unfold”), equivalent to un- + fold.
To release from a fold or pen.
to unfold sheep
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂éntsder. Proto-Germanic *anda- Proto-West Germanic *anda- Old English and- Old English on- Middle English on- English un- English fold English unfold From un- + fold (“to confine into a fold or pen”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.