English Explanatory Dictionary

folk

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun

A people; a tribe or nation; the inhabitants of a region, especially the native inhabitants.
People, persons.
One’s relatives, especially one’s parents.
Ellipsis of folk music.

adj

Of or pertaining to the inhabitants of a land, their culture, tradition, or history.
Of or pertaining to common people as opposed to ruling classes or elites.
Of or related to local building materials and styles.
Believed or transmitted by the common people; not academically or ideologically correct or rigorous.

name

A surname.

Pronunciation

/fəʊk/ /foʊk/ /foʊlk/ En-us-folk.ogg

Word forms

folk folks vok volk volge volke Vokes

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *fulką Proto-West Germanic *folk Old English folc Middle English folk English folk From Middle English folk, from Old English folc, from Proto-West Germanic *folk, from Proto-Germanic *fulką, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁-gós, from *pleh₁- (“to fill”). Cognate with German Volk, Dutch volk, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish folk, Icelandic fólk. Doublet of volk.

Related words

Derived words

adfolk alms-folk almsfolk anti-folk avant-folk beaker folk blackfolk Britfolk businessfolk chairfolk Chinese folk religion cisfolk clansfolk commonfolk congressfolk countryfolk cunning folk doom folk electrofolk elfenfolk elf-folk elfinfolk elle-folk elvenfolk fairy folk feathered folk fieldfolk finfolk fisherfolk folkadelic folk art folk-blues folkcraft folk culture folk dance folk dancer folk dancing folk devil folkdom folker folk-etymologically folk etymologist folk-etymologize folkfree folkgame folk hero folk-hero folk horror folk house folkie folk illness folkish folkland folklife folklike folk-like folk linguistics folklore folk-lore folkly

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