Standard Lemma guide

folder

noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈfoʊldɚ/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈfəʊldə/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -əʊldə(ɹ)
  • CMU ARPABET: F OW1 L D ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An organizer that papers are kept in, usually with an index tab, to be stored as a single unit in a filing cabinet.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • I keep all my schoolwork in a yellow folder.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A virtual container in a computer's file system, in which files and other folders may be stored. The files and subfolders in a folder are usually related.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

Examples

  • My essays are in the folder named "Schoolwork".

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: directory

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A machine or person that folds things.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A folding knife, typically a folding pocketknife.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

covering that is folded over to protect the contents

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: covering

Narrower terms: file folder, matchbook

6

noun

Meaning 6

a small book usually having a paper cover

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: booklet, brochure, leaflet, pamphlet

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: book

Narrower terms: blue book, ticket book

History

Etymology

From fold + -er.

Across languages

Translations

180 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: lêergids — organizer
  • Arabic: مِلَفّ (milaff) — organizer
  • Arabic: مُجَلَّد (mujallad) — organizer
  • Arabic: ضُبَارَة (ḍubāra) — organizer
  • Arabic: مَلَف (malaf) — organizer
  • Arabic: مَلَف (malaf) — organizer
  • Arabic: دوسيه (dōsē) — organizer
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡܹܐܣܵܪܬܵܐ (mēsārtā) — organizer
  • Armenian: թղթապանակ (tʻġtʻapanak) — organizer
  • Azerbaijani: qovluq — organizer
  • Azerbaijani: papka — organizer
  • Belarusian: па́пка (pápka) — organizer
  • Belarusian: скорасшыва́льнік (skorasšyválʹnik) — organizer
  • Belarusian: тэ́чка (téčka) — organizer
  • Bulgarian: па́пка (pápka) — organizer
  • Catalan: carpeta — organizer
  • Chinese Mandarin: 卷宗 (juànzōng) — organizer
  • Chinese Mandarin: 文件夾 /文件夹 (wénjiànjiā) — organizer
  • Dutch: hechtmap — organizer
  • Dutch: map — organizer
  • Estonian: mapp — organizer
  • Finnish: kansio — organizer
  • French: dossier — organizer
  • French: chemise — organizer
  • French: classeur — organizer
  • Galician: cartafol — organizer
  • Georgian: მკეცავი (mḳecavi) — organizer
  • Georgian: საქაღალდე (sakaɣalde) — organizer
  • German: Ordner — organizer
  • German: Mappe — organizer
  • Greek: φάκελος (fákelos) — organizer
  • Hebrew: תִּיקִיָּה (tikiyá) — organizer
  • Hungarian: iratgyűjtő — organizer
  • Icelandic: mappa — organizer
  • Indonesian: map — organizer
  • Indonesian: folder — organizer
  • Irish: fillteán — organizer
  • Italian: cartella — organizer
  • Italian: fascicolo — organizer
  • Japanese: フォルダ (foruda) — organizer
  • Korean: 서류철 (seoryucheol) — organizer
  • Korean: 폴더 (poldeo) — organizer
  • Latin: categoria — organizer
  • Latvian: mape — organizer
  • Latvian: vāks — organizer
  • Lithuanian: segtuvas — organizer
  • Luxembourgish: Mapp — organizer
  • Luxembourgish: Classeur — organizer
  • Macedonian: папка (papka) — organizer
  • Macedonian: фасцикла (fascikla) — organizer
  • Malay: pelipat — organizer
  • Māori: kōpaki — organizer
  • Mongolian: папк (papk) — organizer
  • Norman: dôssyi — organizer
  • Norwegian Bokmål: perm — organizer
  • Iranian Persian: پوشِه (puše) — organizer
  • Polish: teczka — organizer
  • Polish: skoroszyt — organizer
  • Polish: folder — organizer
  • Portuguese: pasta — organizer
  • Romanian: dosar — organizer
  • Russian: па́пка (pápka) — organizer
  • Russian: скоросшива́тель (skorosšivátelʹ) — organizer
  • Serbo-Croatian: фасцѝкл — organizer
  • Serbo-Croatian: fascìkl — organizer
  • Sicilian: carpetta — organizer
  • Slovene: mapa — organizer
  • Spanish: carpeta — organizer
  • Spanish: fólder — organizer
  • Spanish: folder — organizer
  • Swahili: folda — organizer
  • Swedish: pärm — organizer
  • Tagalog: ipitan — organizer
  • Turkish: klasör — organizer
  • Ukrainian: па́пка (pápka) — organizer
  • Ukrainian: швидкозшива́ч (švydkozšyváč) — organizer
  • Ukrainian: те́ка (téka) — organizer
  • Ukrainian: те́чка (téčka) — organizer
  • Vietnamese: bìa hồ sơ — organizer
  • Welsh: ffolder — organizer
  • Afrikaans: vouer — container of computer files
  • Albanian: kartotekë — container of computer files
  • Arabic: مُجَلَّد (mujallad) — container of computer files
  • Arabic: مَلَف (malaf) — container of computer files
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܕܘܼܒܵܩܵܐ (dubbāqā) — container of computer files
  • Armenian: պանակ (panak) — container of computer files
  • Azerbaijani: qovluq — container of computer files
  • Belarusian: па́пка (pápka) — container of computer files
  • Belarusian: катало́г (katalóh) — container of computer files
  • Belarusian: дырэкто́рыя (dyrektóryja) — container of computer files
  • Bulgarian: директо́рия (direktórija) — container of computer files
  • Catalan: carpeta — container of computer files
  • Chinese Mandarin: 目錄 /目录 (mùlù) — container of computer files
  • Chinese Mandarin: 文件夾 /文件夹 (wénjiànjiā) — container of computer files
  • Czech: složka — container of computer files
  • Czech: adresář — container of computer files
  • Danish: mappe — container of computer files
  • Dutch: map — container of computer files
  • Esperanto: dosierujo — container of computer files
  • Estonian: valtsija — container of computer files
  • Finnish: kansio — container of computer files
  • French: dossier — container of computer files
  • French: répertoire — container of computer files
  • Galician: cartafol — container of computer files
  • Georgian: ფოლდერი (polderi) — container of computer files
  • Georgian: საქაღალდე (sakaɣalde) — container of computer files
  • German: Ordner — container of computer files
  • German: Verzeichnis — container of computer files
  • Greek: φάκελος (fákelos) — container of computer files
  • Hebrew: תִּיקִיָּה (tikiyá) — container of computer files
  • Hindi: फ़ोल्डर (folḍar) — container of computer files
  • Hungarian: mappa — container of computer files
  • Icelandic: mappa — container of computer files
  • Ido: repertorio — container of computer files
  • Indonesian: folder — container of computer files
  • Indonesian: map — container of computer files
  • Irish: fillteán — container of computer files
  • Italian: cartella — container of computer files
  • Japanese: フォルダ (foruda) — container of computer files
  • Japanese: ディレクトリ (direkutori) — container of computer files
  • Korean: 폴더 (poldeo) — container of computer files
  • Korean: 디렉토리 (direktori) — container of computer files
  • Latin: catēgoria — container of computer files
  • Latvian: mape — container of computer files
  • Lithuanian: aplankas — container of computer files
  • Macedonian: папка (papka) — container of computer files
  • Macedonian: директориум (direktorium) — container of computer files
  • Malay: pelipat — container of computer files
  • Marathi: फोल्डर (pholḍar) — container of computer files
  • Norman: dôssyi — container of computer files
  • Norwegian Bokmål: mappe — container of computer files
  • Persian: دایرکتوری (dâyrektori) — container of computer files
  • Polish: folder — container of computer files
  • Polish: katalog — container of computer files
  • Portuguese: pasta — container of computer files
  • Portuguese: diretório — container of computer files
  • Portuguese: diretoria — container of computer files
  • Romanian: folder — container of computer files
  • Romanian: director — container of computer files
  • Russian: па́пка (pápka) — container of computer files
  • Russian: катало́г (katalóg) — container of computer files
  • Russian: директо́рия (direktórija) — container of computer files
  • Scottish Gaelic: pasgan — container of computer files
  • Serbo-Croatian: fascikla — container of computer files
  • Serbo-Croatian: дирѐкто̄ријум — container of computer files
  • Serbo-Croatian: дирѐкто̄риј — container of computer files
  • Serbo-Croatian: ма̏па — container of computer files
  • Serbo-Croatian: dirèktōrijum — container of computer files
  • Serbo-Croatian: dirèktōrij — container of computer files
  • Serbo-Croatian: mȁpa — container of computer files
  • Sicilian: carpetta — container of computer files
  • Slovak: priečinok — container of computer files
  • Slovak: adresár — container of computer files
  • Slovene: mapa — container of computer files
  • Spanish: carpeta — container of computer files
  • Swedish: mapp — container of computer files
  • Swedish: katalog — container of computer files
  • Thai: โฟลเดอร์ (fool-də̂ə) — container of computer files
  • Turkish: klasör — container of computer files
  • Ukrainian: па́пка (pápka) — container of computer files
  • Ukrainian: катало́г (katalóh) — container of computer files
  • Ukrainian: директо́рія (dyrektórija) — container of computer files
  • Ukrainian: те́ка (téka) — container of computer files
  • Urdu: فولڈر (folḍar) — container of computer files
  • Vietnamese: thư mục — container of computer files
  • Welsh: ffolder — container of computer files
  • French: plieur — person who folds things
  • French: plieuse — person who folds things
  • Macedonian: пресвиткувач (presvitkuvač) — person who folds things
  • Malay: pelipat — person who folds things
  • Polish: składacz — person who folds things
  • Polish: składaczka — person who folds things
  • Portuguese: dobrador — person who folds things
  • Russian: фальцо́вщик (falʹcóvščik) — person who folds things
  • Russian: фальцо́вщица (falʹcóvščica) — person who folds things
  • Serbo-Croatian: пресавијач — person who folds things
  • Serbo-Croatian: presavijač — person who folds things
  • Spanish: doblador — person who folds things
  • Spanish: dobladora — person who folds things
  • Turkish: katlamacı — person who folds things