Where does “folk” come from?

folk (Middle English) comes from Old English folc, from Proto-West Germanic folk, from Proto-Germanic fulką, from Proto-Indo-European pleh₁- — to fill.

folk (Middle English): people, folk multiple individuals

Definitions

  1. people, folk multiple individuals

Ancestry of “folk”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishfolca people, nation, tribe; crowd; people
2Proto-West Germanicfolkpeople, tribe
3Proto-Germanicfulkąpeople; tribe
4Proto-Indo-Europeanpleh₁-to fill

Words derived from “folk”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European pleh₁- →Every word from Proto-Germanic fulką →Every word from Proto-West Germanic folk →