DictionaryAI

folk

SayFOHK/foʊk/UK/fəʊk/

Pluralfolks

7 meanings of folk

Practice

  1. 1
    people in generalnouncollectivecountable or uncountable
    People in general; men, women, and children considered collectively.

    The fair drew folk from every village in the county.

    Working folk filled the square long before the speeches began.

    UsageUse are with it: most folk are friendly. Often after an adjective: city folk, old folk; folks is also common.

    Similarpeople

    Note

    Unlike the archaic "a people" meaning, it does not mark out a tribe or nation. It simply gathers people together.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Folk has an archaic countable meaning ‘a people’, ‘a tribe or nation’. en.wiktionary.org
  2. 2
    traditionaladjective
    Belonging to the traditional culture of the ordinary people of a region, such as its customs, crafts, dances and building styles.

    The collection focuses on folk traditions of the coastal region.

    Her research traced how folk customs changed over the centuries.

    UsageBefore a noun: folk tales, folk dance, folk art.

    Similartraditional, vernacular

  3. 3
    musicnouncountable or uncountableabbreviationellipsis
    Short for folk music: traditional music passed down within a community, or modern songs written in that style, often acoustic.

    The festival lineup mixed folk with jazz and blues.

    He switched from rock to folk after college.

    UsageLike jazz and blues, no a: play folk, listen to folk.

    Note

    As the name of a genre, the short form covers two quite different things. One is traditional music handed down orally in a community, usually with no recorded songwriter, and with a clear social purpose. The other is contemporary music written in that style, especially an American popular genre built on Anglo-American forms.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Traditional folk music and contemporary folk music are distinct categories. en.wikipedia.org
    • Traditional folk music is transmitted orally. en.wikipedia.org
    • Traditional folk music often has no known songwriter, but works by known composers can enter the traditional repertoire. media.efdss.org
    • Contemporary folk includes an American popular genre drawing on Anglo-American musical forms. en.wiktionary.org
  4. 4
    familynouncollectivecountable or uncountable
    A person's relatives, especially their parents.

    Her folks drove six hours to watch her graduate, and her dad cried through the whole ceremony.

    After college she moved back in with her folks for a year to save money on rent.

    Similarparents, family, relatives, kin

  5. 5
    adjective
    Based on the beliefs or knowledge passed on among ordinary people, rather than on formal scholarship or science.

    The book separates real medicine from folk cures with no proven effect.

    Folk explanations of dreams rarely match what scientists find.

    UsageBefore a noun: folk remedy, folk wisdom, folk beliefs.

    Similarpopular, traditional, unscientific

    Oppositescientific, academic

    Note

    Scholars put this adjective in front of the names of their own fields, as in folk psychology and folk linguistics. The result names what ordinary people believe about a subject, as opposed to what the discipline has established. The pattern can stretch to politics too, as in folk libertarian, describing someone libertarian by impulse rather than by doctrine.

Less common meanings

  1. 6
    adjective
    Relating to the common people rather than ruling classes or elites.

    Beside the official teachings of the church, a lively folk religion of local saints and healing charms flourished among the peasants.

    Though the factory owners called him a troublemaker, the young union organizer became a folk hero in the mill towns.

    UsageCommon in folk hero and folk religion.

    Similarpopular, grassroots, common

    Oppositeelite, aristocratic

  2. 7
    a tribenounarchaiccountable
    A people regarded as a tribe or nation; the inhabitants of a region, especially its native population.
    The organization of each folk, as such, sprang mainly from war.
    1878, John Richard Green, History of the English People
    We thus arrive at a most unexpected imbroglio. The French have become a Germanic folk and the Germanic folk have become Gaulish!
    1907, Race Prejudice, Jean Finot
    Note

    This sense keeps that old collective weight: it is countable, so a people can be a folk and peoples can be counted folk by folk. John Richard Green's History of the English People (1877–1880) writes of "the organization of each Folk."

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

Practice

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Origin

From Middle English folk, from Old English folc, going back through Proto-West Germanic *folk to Proto-Germanic *fulką, possibly from a Proto-Indo-European root *pleh₁- meaning "to fill." It is cognate with German Volk, Dutch volk, and Swedish and Danish folk.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

  • English folk comes from Middle English folk, from Old English folc. en.wiktionary.org
  • Old English folc descends through Proto-West Germanic *folk from Proto-Germanic *fulką. en.wiktionary.org
  • Proto-Germanic *fulką may ultimately derive from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁-, meaning “to fill.” en.wiktionary.org
  • English folk is cognate with German Volk, Dutch volk, Swedish folk and Danish folk. en.wiktionary.org