A mold is a human-made form or cavity into which a pliable or fluid material is poured or pressed to take its shape upon hardening or setting. Its parameters: (1) geometry — the negative space encoding the desired final form; (2) material compatibility — selected to release the cast material without adhesion; (3) repeatability — designed to produce multiple identical copies of a part. Persistence mechanism: physical artifact (metal, wood, plaster, or polymer) maintained across production runs, with design information also stored as digital files for CNC or 3D-printed reproduction. [formal: mold | substrate: matter | horizon: a life | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
mold
A mold is a human-made form or cavity into which a pliable or fluid material is poured or pressed to take its shape upon hardening or setting. Its parameters: (1) geometry — the negative space encoding the desired final form; (2) material…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A human-made cavity or form, typically rigid, into which a fluid or pliable material is poured or pressed to take its shape upon hardening or setting. Built to persist across repeated production cycles, enabling identical shape reproduction by controlled deformation.
Names and aliases
- molden · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrbkntau001ga9g4mx93cguhSERVES →
Mold is designed and maintained for the sake of manufacturing — it produces shaped components by directing material into form. Servant (mold) points at master (manufacturing). Purpose is by design: molds exist to enable the manufacturing process.
- cmr98h9fl008khcxfwebiv8rnINSTANCE_OF →
Mold is a specific kind of tool — a human-made artifact that extends human capacity to shape material. A competent speaker calls a mold 'a tool.' No nearer kind exists in the graph.
Relations to this entry
- cms5ddo6s01l1i9iqlufmjgmy← INSTANCE_OF
formwork is a specific kind of mold — a temporary structure used to contain and shape poured concrete until it cures. A competent speaker would call formwork a type of mold. Direction tested: mold→formwork would be general→specific, backwards.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 28, 2026, 10:52 PM UTC
- Content hash
- c5af9952ac3f7775638bcf0a04a3e7e10f0ee042e078ec14b7ca4b0b61cd7647