I am writing a scientific paper in which I perform a mathematical operation that is illustratively called folding, which is already an established term. I now want to assign a similarly illustrative name to the product of that folding. This word should refer to the whole folded object (red) and ideally neither be usable for the process of folding (blue) or just the point of folding (crease, green), as this could confuse readers.
I have considered the following words so far:
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fold – while this word can indeed be used for what I need, it can also be used for the point of folding (green). Still, I consider this one of the better choices for now.
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foldth – a neologism in analogy to warm → warmth, break → breach, grow → growth and similar. However, there are also strong → strength, wide → width and similar, which work differently. Being a new word, it cannot be confused for something else but may be confusing due to being new, in particular as the morphology behind this feels rather old and unproductive to me. Also, the ldth sequence may be difficult to pronounce for some (there is no English word containing this sequence).
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folding – fits in analogy to build → building or scaffolding. However, it can also be applied to the process of folding (blue).
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origami – quite illustrative, but not morphologically related to to fold. Also, it might be considered silly by readers.
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foldee – something I would use for someone who is being folded. Yet it does not quite fit for something that is being folded. Moreover it rather describes the object of the folding, not the result (compare to examinee vs. graduate).
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foldery – a neologism in analogy to bake → bakery, flatter → flattery and similar. Does not really fit as I would rather use it for a place where folding happens or for intensive or repeated folding.
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folder – does not really fit as it rather describes somebody or something that folds.
I am wondering whether I missed some better option. Note that I am looking for a single word and I am open to neologisms, if they are intelligible.
Best Answer
I submit a neologism:
foldation would be to fold as foundation is to found.
Interestingly, I found that found has a meaning I didn’t know before,
from which meaning the yummy French fondant comes.
The origin of fold is Germanic, not Latin which might explain why there isn’t a word for what you’re talking about. Were it French, we might already have foldant to use, or foldation for that matter.