Enfoldingly

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. To wrap or cover something completely in a gentle manner
2. to embrace or include comprehensively in a figurative sense
3. to contain or envelop with a sense of comfort and protection

Etymology: "Enfoldingly" is a plain combination of two parts that each have a longer history than the adverb itself. The base is "enfolding," the present participle of "enfold," which means to wrap something up or hold it within an embrace. The suffix "-ly" turns the participle into an adverb describing the manner of an action, so "enfoldingly" describes something done in the way that enfolds, that is, with a gentle, encircling embrace. Because the word is built straightforwardly from English materials, its meaning follows directly from its parts. Its sense comes from the physical image of arms or a covering closing around someone, and the adverb carries that image into a description of how something is done.

Synonyms: embracingly, envelopingly