folk English · revision 6439

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725|origins=gem-pro *fulką}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fəʊk/ ''(UK)''; /foʊk/, /foʊlk/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|folc|t=common people; nation, tribe; troop, army]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[gem-pro|*fulką]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) cognate with [[osx|folc]], [[nl|volk]], [[de|Volk]] and [[non|folk|t=people; army]];^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Hoad suggests the original sense, a host of warriors, is best kept in Old Norse.^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) Watkins derives it from PIE [[ine-pro|*pleh₁-|alt=*pele-|t=to fill]], making it related to [[m|grc|πλῆθος|tr=plêthos|t=multitude]] and Latin plebs,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) while Boutkan thinks the Germanic and Balto-Slavic words may come from a substrate.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Common people, a tribe or multitude: about 725, in ''Beowulf'', in Barnhart;^(Barnhart 1988) the OED has a people in relation to a superior, such as God or a king, from about 888.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old English formed many compounds with folc, such as folcgemōt, a town meeting.^(Etymonline) A people, nation or race is from about 1000, now archaic.^(OED 1989) Men or people in general, as in ''country folk'', is from before 1225.^(OED 1989) The plural ''folks'' is from the 15th century and since the 17th has been the usual form, the singular being archaic or dialectal;^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) in American English ''folks'' also means one's parents or family.^(Collins 2023)^(AHD) The adjective use, as in ''folk song'' and ''folk tale'', is from about 1850, after German Volkslied,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) and ''folklore'' and ''folk music'' are 19th-century words.^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) The word was superseded in most senses by [[people]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – common people, tribe.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1225 – people in general.^(OED 1989)

+ * 15th century – the plural folks.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1850 – the adjective, as in folk song.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # People in general, or people of a particular kind: ''country folk''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''folks'' (informal): one's family, especially parents.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # [[folk music|alt=Folk music]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of the traditional culture of ordinary people: ''folk art'', ''folk tale''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[folk etymology]]

+ * [[folk medicine]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Norfolk]]

+ * [[Suffolk]]

+ * [[folklore]]

+ * [[folksy]]

+ * [[people]]

+ * [[plebeian]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}