'upfold' originates from English, specifically the compound of the prefix 'up' and the verb 'fold', where 'up' meant 'toward a higher position' and 'fold' meant 'to bend or turn over'.

'up' (Old English 'up') combined with Middle English/Old English forms of 'fold' (Old English 'fealdan' / 'foldian' meaning 'to fold') and appears in Early Modern/Middle English as forms such as 'upfolden' or 'upfold', eventually yielding the modern English 'upfold'.

Initially it meant 'to bend or fold upward' in a literal or descriptive sense; over time the primary sense has remained similar but the verb has become rare/archaic in general English and survives mainly in specialized or literary contexts, while the noun is sometimes used in geology to describe an upward fold.