folder

See also: fôlder

English

Etymology

From fold +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfoʊldɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfəʊldə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊldə(ɹ)

Noun

folder (plural folders)

A typical icon of a folder (2)

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

   I keep all my schoolwork in a yellow folder.

2. (computing) 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.

   Synonym: directory

   My essays are in the folder named "Schoolwork".

3. A machine or person that folds things.
4. A folding knife, typically a pocketknife.
   • 2010 August 20, Joe Kertzman, Knives 2011: The World's Greatest Knife Book, F+W Media, Inc., →ISBN:

     A funny name for a knife, the Needs Work folder is purpose-built as a working folder, and includes a straight, plain-edge, modified-wharncliffe blade, and a comfortable, ergonomic handle.

Derived terms

• bone folder
• book folder
• file folder
• folderful
• folderless
• folderlike
• homework folder
• hot folder
• magazine folder
• manila folder
• paper-folder
• refolder
• superfolder
• watched folder

Descendants

• → Brazilian Portuguese: folder, fôlder
• → Dutch: folder
• → Indonesian: folder
• → Japanese: フォルダ (foruda), フォルダー (forudā)
• → Korean: 폴더 (poldeo)
• → Polish: folder
• → Serbo-Croatian: folder

Translations

organizer — see also binder

• Afrikaans: lêergids
• Arabic: مِلَفّ m (milaff), مُجَلَّد m (mujallad), ضُبَارَة f (ḍubāra)

  Gulf Arabic: مَلَف m (malaf)

  Hijazi Arabic: مَلَف m (malaf), دوسيه m (dōsē)

• Aramaic:

  Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡܹܐܣܵܪܬܵܐ f (mēsārtā)

• Armenian: թղթապանակ (hy) (tʻġtʻapanak)
• Azerbaijani: qovluq (az), papka
• Belarusian: па́пка (be) f (pápka), скорасшыва́льнік m (skorasšyválʹnik), тэ́чка f (téčka)
• Bulgarian: па́пка (bg) f (pápka)
• Catalan: carpeta (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 卷宗 (zh) (juànzōng), 文件夾 / 文件夹 (zh) (wénjiànjiā)

• Dutch: hechtmap (nl) f, map (nl) f
• Estonian: mapp
• Finnish: kansio (fi)
• French: dossier (fr) m, chemise (fr) f, classeur (fr) m
• Galician: cartafol m
• Georgian: მკეცავი (mḳecavi), საქაღალდე (sakaɣalde)
• German: Ordner (de) m, Mappe (de) f
• Greek: φάκελος (el) m (fákelos)
• Hebrew: תִּיקִיָּה f (tikiyá)
• Hungarian: iratgyűjtő (hu)
• Icelandic: mappa (is) f
• Indonesian: map (id), folder (id)
• Irish: fillteán (ga) m
• Italian: cartella (it) f, fascicolo (it) m
• Japanese: フォルダ (ja) (foruda)
• Korean: 서류철(書類綴) (ko) (seoryucheol), 폴더 (poldeo)
• Latin: categoria f
• Latvian: mape f, vāks m
• Lithuanian: segtuvas m
• Luxembourgish: Mapp f, Classeur m
• Macedonian: папка f (papka), фасцикла f (fascikla)
• Malay: pelipat
• Māori: kōpaki
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: папк (papk)

• Norman: dôssyi m (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: perm (no) m

• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: پوشِه (puše)

• Polish: teczka (pl) f, skoroszyt (pl) m, folder (pl) m
• Portuguese: pasta (pt) f
• Romanian: dosar (ro) n
• Russian: па́пка (ru) f (pápka), скоросшива́тель (ru) m (skorosšivátelʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: фасцѝкл m

  Latin: fascìkl (sh) m

• Sicilian: carpetta (scn) f
• Slovene: mapa f
• Spanish: carpeta (es) f, fólder (es) m, folder m
• Swahili: folda (sw)
• Swedish: pärm (sv) c
• Tagalog: ipitan
• Turkish: klasör (tr)
• Ukrainian: па́пка f (pápka), швидкозшива́ч m (švydkozšyváč), те́ка (uk) f (téka), те́чка f (téčka)
• Vietnamese: bìa hồ sơ
• Welsh: ffolder m or f

container of computer files

• Afrikaans: vouer
• Albanian: kartotekë (sq) f
• Arabic: مُجَلَّد m (mujallad)

  Gulf Arabic: مَلَف m (malaf)

• Aramaic:

  Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܕܘܼܒܵܩܵܐ m (dubbāqā)

• Armenian: պանակ (hy) (panak)
• Azerbaijani: qovluq (az)
• Belarusian: па́пка (be) f (pápka), катало́г m (katalóh), дырэкто́рыя f (dyrektóryja)
• Bulgarian: директо́рия (bg) f (direktórija)
• Catalan: carpeta (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 目錄 / 目录 (zh) (mùlù), 文件夾 / 文件夹 (zh) (wénjiànjiā)

• Czech: složka (cs) f, adresář (cs) m
• Danish: mappe (da) c
• Dutch: map (nl) m
• Esperanto: dosierujo
• Estonian: valtsija
• Finnish: kansio (fi)
• French: dossier (fr) m, répertoire (fr) m
• Galician: cartafol m
• Georgian: ფოლდერი (polderi), საქაღალდე (sakaɣalde)
• German: Ordner (de) m, Verzeichnis (de) n
• Greek: φάκελος (el) m (fákelos)
• Hebrew: תִּיקִיָּה f (tikiyá)
• Hindi: फ़ोल्डर m (folḍar)
• Hungarian: mappa (hu)
• Icelandic: mappa (is) f
• Ido: repertorio (io)
• Indonesian: folder (id), map (id)
• Irish: fillteán (ga) m
• Italian: cartella (it)
• Japanese: フォルダ (ja) (foruda), ディレクトリ (ja) (direkutori)
• Korean: 폴더 (poldeo), 디렉토리 (ko) (direktori)
• Latin: catēgoria f
• Latvian: mape f
• Lithuanian: aplankas m
• Macedonian: папка f (papka), директориум m (direktorium)
• Malay: pelipat
• Marathi: फोल्डर (mr) m (pholḍar)
• Norman: dôssyi m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: mappe m

• Persian: دایرکتوری (dâyrektori)
• Polish: folder (pl) m, katalog (pl) m
• Portuguese: pasta (pt) f, diretório (pt) m (Portugal), diretoria (pt) f (Brazil)
• Romanian: folder n, director (ro) n
• Russian: па́пка (ru) f (pápka), катало́г (ru) m (katalóg), директо́рия (ru) f (direktórija) (dated)
• Scottish Gaelic: pasgan m
• Serbo-Croatian: fascikla (sh) f

  Cyrillic: дирѐкто̄ријум m, дирѐкто̄риј m, ма̏па f

  Latin: dirèktōrijum m, dirèktōrij (sh) m, mȁpa (sh) f

• Sicilian: carpetta (scn) f
• Slovak: priečinok m, adresár (sk) m
• Slovene: mapa f
• Spanish: carpeta (es) f
• Swedish: mapp (sv) c, katalog (sv) c
• Thai: โฟลเดอร์ (fool-də̂ə)
• Turkish: klasör (tr)
• Ukrainian: па́пка f (pápka), катало́г (uk) m (katalóh), директо́рія f (dyrektórija), те́ка (uk) f (téka)
• Urdu: فولڈر m (folḍar)
• Vietnamese: thư mục (vi)
• Welsh: ffolder

person who folds things

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• French: plieur (fr) m (person), plieuse (fr) f (machine)
• Macedonian: пресвиткувач m (presvitkuvač)
• Malay: pelipat
• Polish: składacz (pl) m, składaczka f
• Portuguese: dobrador m
• Russian: фальцо́вщик (ru) m (falʹcóvščik), фальцо́вщица (ru) f (falʹcóvščica)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пресавијач m

  Latin: presavijač m

• Spanish: doblador m, dobladora f
• Turkish: katlamacı

a folding knife, typically a pocketknife — see folding knife,‎ pocketknife

Anagrams

• forled, refold, rolfed

Chinese

Etymology

From English folder.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): fou¹ daa² / fou¹ daa⁴

---

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: fou¹ daa² / fou¹ daa⁴
    • Yale: fōu dá / fōu dàh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: fou¹ daa² / fou¹ daa⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: fou¹ da² / fou¹ da⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fou̯⁵⁵ taː³⁵/, /fou̯⁵⁵ taː²¹/

Noun

folder

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) folder; organizer
2. (Hong Kong Cantonese, computing) folder

References

• Bauer, Robert S. (2021), ABC Cantonese-English Comprehensive Dictionary, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, →ISBN, page 284

Danish

Noun

folder c pl

1. indefinite plural of folde

Verb

folder

1. present tense of folde

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English folder.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: fol‧der
• Rhymes: -ɔldər

Noun

folder m (plural folders, diminutive foldertje n)

1. (folded) leaflet with information or advertising

Derived terms

• aanbiedingsfolder
• reclamefolder

Indonesian

Etymology

From English folder.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈfoldər/ [ˈfol.dər]
• Syllabification: fol‧der

Noun

foldêr (plural folder-folder)

1. (computing) folder (a virtual container in a computer's file system)

   Synonym: direktori

2. folder (an organizer that papers are kept in)

   Synonym: map

Further reading

• “folder”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Manx

Noun

folder m (genitive singular folder, plural folderyn)

1. alternative spelling of foldyr

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

folder

1. present of folde

Polish

Etymology

Etymology tree

English folderbor.

Polish folder

Borrowed from English folder.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔl.dɛr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔldɛr
• Syllabification: fol‧der

Noun

folder m inan

1. (computing) folder

   Synonym: katalog

2. brochure

Declension

Declension of folder

	singular	plural
nominative	folder	foldery
genitive	folderu (more rarely foldera)	folderów
dative	folderowi	folderom
accusative	folder	foldery
instrumental	folderem	folderami
locative	folderze	folderach
vocative	folderze	foldery

Further reading

• “folder”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[1] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “folder”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[2] (in Polish)

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• fôlder

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English folder.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfow.deʁ/ [ˈfoʊ̯.deh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfow.deʁ/ [ˈfoʊ̯.deh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ˈfow.deɾ/ [ˈfoʊ̯.deɾ]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈfow.deʁ/ [ˈfoʊ̯.deχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ˈfow.deɻ/ [ˈfoʊ̯.deɻ]

Noun

folder m (plural folders or folderes)

1. (Brazil) leaflet (small piece of paper with information)

   Synonym: panfleto

Further reading

• “fôlder”, in Dicio – Dicionário Online de Português (in Portuguese), São Paulo: 7Graus, 2009–2026

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from English folder.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fǒlder/

Noun

folder ? (Cyrillic spelling фолдер)

1. (computing, colloquial) folder

   Synonyms: fascikl, mapa

Further reading

• “folder”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026
• “folder”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English folder.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfoldeɾ/ [ˈfol̪.d̪eɾ]
• Rhymes: -oldeɾ
• Syllabification: fol‧der

Noun

folder m (plural folders)

1. (Latin America) alternative form of fólder

Usage notes

• According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

• “folder”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010

Swedish

en folder, flera foldrar

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English folder. According to SO attested since 1948.

Noun

folder c

1. A folded leaflet.

   Synonym: broschyr

   • 2020 July 6, Christian S Zetterdahl, “Folder uppmärksammar om våld i hemmet [Leaflet highlights domestic violence]”, in SVT Nyheter:

     Länstyrelsen tillsammans med Region Östergötland har tagit fram en folder med information om utsatthet i hemmet relaterat till covid-19.

     The County Administrative Board, together with Region Östergötland, has produced a leaflet with information on vulnerability in the home related to COVID-19.

2. (computing, nonstandard) synonym of mapp (“folder”)
   • 2023 March 6, “Jobba smartare – här är 10 finfina tillägg till Microsoft Office [Work smarter – here are 10 excellent add-ons for Microsoft Office]”, in Computer Sweden:

     Det här tillägget, som är gratis, vägleder dig genom förloppet i tre enkla steg. Du ombeds välja den folder där de raderade mejlen först fanns (Återskapa dokument eller Rensa).

     This add-on, which is free, guides you through the process in three simple steps. You are asked to select the folder where the deleted emails were originally located (Restore documents or Clean up).

References

• “folder”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• polder

Etymology

Borrowed from English folder.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈfoldeɾ/ [ˈfol.d̪ɛɾ]
  • IPA^(key): (with nativization) /ˈpoldeɾ/ [ˈpol.d̪ɛɾ]
• Rhymes: -oldeɾ
• Syllabification: fol‧der

Noun

folder (Baybayin spelling ᜉᜓᜎ᜔ᜇᜒᜇ᜔)

1. folder (organizer that papers are kept in)

   Synonym: karpeta

Further reading

• “folder”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2025
• “folder”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018