folk

Meaning

Noun

1. (archaic, countable) A people; a tribe or nation; the inhabitants of a region, especially the native inhabitants.
2. (collective, countable, plural, uncountable) People, persons.
3. (collective, countable, plural, uncountable, usually) One’s relatives, especially one’s parents.
4. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable) Ellipsis of folk music.

Adj

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

Synonyms

people

🧑‍🤝‍🧑

nation

popular

family

👪

tribe

commoner

ordinary people

villager

neighbours

folk music

populace

common people

person

🧑‍🦱

kin

family line

people’s

kinsfolk

guy

sept

ethnic

man

👨

ethnic music

crowd

mankind

race

phratry

folklore

public

civilian

folks

traditional

kinfolk

relations

relatives

settlement

subjects

unofficial

vernacular

widespread

working class

world

🗺️

plebian

working-class

traditionary

community

local

mortality

national

Kansa

regional

Translations

peuple

🧑‍🤝‍🧑

popolo

🧑‍🤝‍🧑

volk

🧑‍🤝‍🧑

pueblo

🏙️

gente

povo

🧑‍🤝‍🧑

populus

🧑‍🤝‍🧑

Volk

🧑‍🤝‍🧑

gente

🧑‍🤝‍🧑

λαός

Leute

🧑‍🤝‍🧑

gente

🧑‍🤝‍🧑

plebs

Pronounced as (IPA)

/fəʊk/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: folk

Inherited from Old English: folc

Cognate with German: Volk

Cognate with Dutch: volk

Cognate with Swedish: folk

Cognate with Danish: folk

In summary

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, Swedish folk and Danish folk. Doublet of volk.

Sentences

The Greek musicians play on small portable folk style instruments .

Much of William Schmidt's music was influenced by jazz and folk music .

Ukrainian folk word "solontsi" means salty soil .

Some folk traditions assign a different attribute to each leaf of a clover .