Where does “folks” come from?
Folk comes from Middle English folk, from Old English folc, from Proto-Germanic fulką, from Proto-Indo-European pleh₁-, meaning to fill or multiply.
folks (English): The members of one's immediate family, especially...
Definitions
- The members of one's immediate family, especially...
Ancestry of “folks”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | folk | Of or pertaining to the inhabitants of a land,... |
| 2 | German | volk | people, nation, folk, tribe, race group united by culture, history, descent, and/or language |
| 3 | Middle High German | volc | — |
| 4 | Old High German | folc | folk; people collectively, nation; people, nation |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | folk | people, tribe |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | fulką | people; tribe |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pleh₁- | to fill |