'threefold' originates from Old English, specifically the word 'þrīfeald', where 'þrī-' meant 'three' and '-feald' meant 'fold'.

'þrīfeald' transformed into the Middle English word 'threifold', and eventually became the modern English word 'threefold'.

Initially, it meant 'three times as much', and this meaning has largely remained the same in modern usage.