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polka

Etymology and origin of the English word polka

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈpɒl.kə/ (UK); /ˈpoʊ(l)kə/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French polka and German Polka,[2][3] from Czech polka (“Polish woman”),[4][2][3][5][6] the feminine of Polák “Pole”.[4][2][3][5][6] It may instead be, or be influenced by, Czech půlka “half”, for the half-steps of the Bohemian peasant dance.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A lively round dance of Bohemian origin (1844 in the OED, Barnhart and Etymonline; 1843 in Merriam-Webster).[7][2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The dance was in vogue in Prague by 1835, Vienna by 1839 and Paris by 1840, and reached London in 1842.[3][7] It caused such a craze that polka was prefixed as a trade name to all kinds of articles,[7] such as a tight-fitting knitted woman's jacket (1844).[7] The verb “to dance the polka” dates from 1846,[7][2] and the polka dot pattern, named after the dance, from 1884.[2]

Timeline

  • 1835 – the dance in vogue in Prague.[3]
  • 1844 – the dance; the music; a knitted jacket.[7][2]
  • 1846 – verb, to dance the polka.[7][2]
  • 1884 – polka dot.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A lively couple dance of Bohemian origin, with a basic pattern of hop, step, close, step.
  2. Music for this dance, in duple time.

Verb

  1. To dance the polka.

Word family

  • polka dot
  • mazurka
  • polonaise
  • waltz

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Polka.” Etymologically, 11 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/polka. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

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