Refolding

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of folding something again after it has been unfolded
2. A process where an item or material is bent or doubled back upon itself one more time
3. The repetition of folding or bending an object to return it to a previous folded state

Etymology: "Refolding" is simply "re-" attached to "folding," the present participle and gerund of the verb "fold." The prefix "re-" comes from Latin, where it meant "back" or "again," and it has been productive in English since the medieval period, so combining it with an existing verb is an ordinary process. "Fold" itself is an Old English word, "fealdan," which has cognates across Germanic languages, and its basic sense of bending something over on itself has stayed stable for over a thousand years. Because "refolding" is a transparent formation, it is not recorded as a separate coinage with a known first user; it appears as the natural noun and gerund form whenever speakers needed to describe folding something a second time. Its history is therefore best understood through its two parts rather than through any single moment of invention.

Synonyms: reorganizing, rearranging