folkn.
/fəʊk/, U.S. /foʊk/ 1.
a. A people, nation, race, tribe. Obsolete exc. archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > people collectively > [noun]
lede971
folkOE
peoplea1300
peoplea1393
gentry1718
mense1899
the world > people > ethnicities > [noun]
thede855
lede971
folkOE
mannishOE
nationc1330
peoplea1375
birtha1400
Santee1698
nationality1832
OE Beowulf 1582 He..sloh..folces Denigea fyftyne men.
c1000 Ælfric Genesis xxv. 23 Twa folc beoþ todæled on þe, & þæt folc oferswið þæt oþer folc.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (1724) 3 Brytones were þe firste folc þat to Engelond come.
1388 Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) John xi. 48 Romayns schulen come, and schulen take our place and oure folk.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Esdras v. 26 Amonge all ye multitudes of folkes thou hast gotten the one people.
1851 J. M. Neale Mediæval Hymns 23 Met Thee with Palms in their hands that day the folk of the Hebrews.
b. transferred of animals. (After the Vulgate and Hebrew.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > [noun] > species
folka1382
endroitc1460
the world > life > biology > taxonomy > taxon > [noun] > genus or sub-genus
folka1382
genus1608
subgenus1699
congeneric1965
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Prov. xxx. 26 A litil hare, a folc vnmyȝti.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Prov. xxx. C The conyes are but a feble folke [so 1611 and 1885 (R.V.)].
2. † b. (also plural) Retainers, followers; servants, workpeople. Obsolete.
a. An aggregation of people in relation to a superior, e.g. God, a king or priest; the great mass as opposed to an individual; the common people. Obsolete exc. archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > [noun] > in relation to a superior
folkc888
society > society and the community > social class > the common people > [noun]
folkc888
peoplea1325
frapec1330
commona1350
common peoplea1382
commonsa1382
commontya1387
communityc1400
meiniec1400
commonaltya1425
commonsa1500
vulgarsa1513
many1526
meinie1532
multitude1535
the many-headed beast (also monster)1537
number1542
ignobility1546
commonitya1550
popular1554
populace1572
popularya1578
vulgarity?1577
populacya1583
rout1589
the vulgar1590
plebs1591
mobile vulgusc1599
popularity1599
ignoble1603
the million1604
plebe1612
plebeity1614
the common filea1616
the herda1616
civils1644
commonality1649
democracy1656
menu1658
mobile1676
crowd1683
vulgusa1687
mob1691
Pimlico parliament?1774
citizenry1795
polloi1803
demos1831
many-headed1836
hoi polloi1837
the masses1837
citizenhood1843
John Q.1922
wimble-wamble1937
c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xxx. §1 Forþæm is ðæs folces hlisa ælcum men for nauht to habbenne.
971 Blickl. Hom. 35 Swa swa geara beboden wæs Godes folce.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2785 Ic haue min folkes pine sogen.
c1375 Lay Folks Mass Bk. (MS. B) 43 Til alle þo folk he [preste] shryues him þare of alle his synnes.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 12838 Ihon..said þat all þaa fok moght here, þis es þe lamb.
1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) lix. 85 The said hoost of the Hebreux..were al folke of god.
1549–62 T. Sternhold & J. Hopkins Whole Bk. Psalms c. 247 We are his folke, he doth vs feede.
1863 H. W. Longfellow Musician's Tale vii. xxi, in Tales Wayside Inn 102 Choose ye between two things, my folk.
1886 Academy 7 Aug. 85/2 It..did not hold back the Bible from the folk.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > retainer or follower > [noun] > collective or retinue
hirdc888
douthOE
gingc1175
folkc1275
hirdfolcc1275
tail1297
meiniec1300
meiniec1300
routc1325
suitc1325
peoplec1330
leading1382
retinuea1387
repairc1390
retenancea1393
farneta1400
to-draughta1400
sembly14..
sequelc1420
manya1425
followingc1429
affinity?1435
family1438
train1489
estatec1500
port1545
retain1548
equipage1579
suite1579
attendancy1586
attendance1607
tendancea1616
sequacesa1660
cortège1679
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > [noun] > servants collectively > of a family or household
hirdc888
peoplec1330
family1388
folk1577
serviturea1674
familia1729
servantry1784
help1850
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 218 Þa lette he riden vnirimed folc.
a1400–50 Alexander 3053 Dary..seȝis his foke faile.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 377 He founde it kept by the Erle of Darbyes folkes.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry ii. f. 70v Least my folkes labouryng in some of them, shoulde come into the rest, contrary to my pleasure.
1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) iii. 170 The maister of the house..ought..to shewe himselfe more seuere towards his owne folke, then towards others.
1632 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Eromena 68 Wherein (wanting so many of your folke) you could not have defended your selfe.
3.
a. Men, people indefinitely. Also, people of a particular class, which is indicated by an adjective or some attributive phrase.From 14th cent. onward the plural has been used in the same sense, and since 17th cent. is the ordinary form, the singular being archaic or dialect. The word is now chiefly colloquial, being superseded in more formal use by people.
ΚΠ
OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. ann. 999 Þa elkede man fram dæge to dæge, & swencte þæt earme folc þe on ðam scipon lagon.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 123 Forto biwepen slei folc..þet is mest al þe world.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 139 Þe benes and þe oreysons of guode uolke.
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xv. 360 Now failleth þe folke of þe flode And of þe londe bothe.
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 2028 Vp on thise steedes, grete and whyte Ther seten folk.
1413 Pilgr. Sowle (1859) ii. xlv. 51 Now beholde, and see with goode auysement vpon these folkes.
c1450 (a1449) J. Lydgate Diatorie (Lamb. 853) in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 58 With .iij. maner of folk be not at debate: First with þi bettir.
a1500 Gregory's Chron. (Camd. Soc.) 155 Summys of v c men of armys or of folke of schotte [Fr. gens de trait, i.e. archers].
1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) iii. 311 The masse crede is to be sayd when folcke lye a dyenge.
1565 T. Stapleton Fortresse of Faith f. 126 Howseling of Christen folcke before deathe.
1619 in R. F. Williams Birch's Court & Times James I (1849) (modernized text) II. 186 They played three pieces glick, as ordinary folks use to play twopenny glick.
1710 J. Swift Lett. (1767) III. 71 I have heard wise folks say, An ill tongue may do much.
1727 A. Hamilton New Acct. E. Indies I. xxiv. 297 There were Folks killed in 1723.
1756 M. Calderwood Lett. & Jrnls. (1884) 83 I could not speak to the folks and ask questions.
1774 A. Adams in J. Adams & A. Adams Familiar Lett. (1876) 49 Some folks say I grow very fat.
1774 B. Franklin Wks. (1887) V. 414 It was the ton with the ministerial folks to abuse them.
1775 S. Johnson Let. 11 June (1992) II. 223 Folks want me to go to Italy.
1845 S. Austin tr. L. von Ranke Hist. Reformation in Germany (ed. 2) II. 29 He is unkind to the poor folk.
1870 D. G. Rossetti Poems 100 A decree..Whereby all banished folk might win Free pardon.
1871 S. Smiles Character i. 25 The character of a nation is not to be learnt from its fine folks.
1879 R. Browning Martin Relph 119 It was hard to get at the folks in power.
1882 ‘Ouida’ In Maremma I. 23 The hearts of the folk in Grosseto were sad for his fate.
b. Individual persons; individuals.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > people collectively > [noun] > individual persons
folka1475
a1475 Bk. Curtasye (Sloane 1986) l. 546 in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 317 Thes thre folke and no mo.
1504 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 97 Substancyall folkys of the seid parych.
a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 38 Three folkes, viz. two men and a woman.
1833 H. Martineau Berkeley the Banker i. ii. 31 To think it prudent for these young folks to settle.
c. folk of peace [mistranslation of Gaelic daoine sídhe, lit. people of the fairy hill (compare Irish bean sídhe banshee n.), by confusion with síthe, genitive of síth peace] : fairy folk, fairies. Scottish.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > fairy or elf > [noun] > collectively
fairya1375
good neighboura1585
faerie1612
good peoplea1692
small people1696
little people1719
Sidhe1724
gentrya1731
little mena1731
small folk1785
little folk1791
gentlefolk1795
the wee folk1819
good folk1820
Pharisee1823
gentle-people1832
fairyhood1844
folk of peace1875
a1692 R. Kirk Secret Commonw. in M. Hunter Occult Lab. (2001) iii. 94 The Seers avouch that severals who go to the Sith's (or people at rest and in peace) befor the natural period of their lyf expyr, do frequentlie appear to them.
1841 H. Miller Old Red Sandstone xi. 215 ‘Not of the race of Adam,’ said the creature, turning for a moment in its saddle: ‘the People of Peace shall never more be seen in Scotland.’]
1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 203/2 The Highlanders call them the folk of peace.
1893 R. L. Stevenson Catriona i. 8 I am nameless like the Folk of Peace.
1900 J. G. Campbell Superstit. Sc. Highlands i. 1 The Fairy or Elfin people, or, as they are called both in Irish and Scottish Gaelic, the sìth people, that is, ‘the people of peace’, the ‘still folk’, or ‘silently-moving’ people.]
4.
a. plural (exc. dialect) The people of one's family, parents, children, relatives.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > relations or kindred > [noun]
kinc825
sibOE
kindredOE
sibness?a1300
kindc1325
affinity1357
cousinagea1382
cognationc1384
kinhoodc1440
kinsfolkc1450
evenkina1500
relation1502
kindsfolk1555
folks1715
cousinhood1748
loved onea1756
parentage1768
concerns1818
belonging1842
cousinry1844
cousinship1865
kinspeople1866
kinfolk1873
1715 Pattern to true love in Halliwell Yorksh. Anthol. (1851) 414 Our folks will angry be I fear.
1776 J. Adams in J. Adams & A. Adams Familiar Lett. (1876) 203 All that I could learn of you and my little folks.
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Folk, family. ‘How's yower folk’.
1833 H. Martineau Loom & Lugger i. i. 15 Your young folks are flourishing, I hope.
b. dialect. Friends, intimates.
ΚΠ
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words I. 250 ‘We're not folks now.’
1881 S. Evans Evans's Leicestershire Words (new ed.) ‘They'd use to be such folks.’
c. People who are eminently respectable. U.S.
ΚΠ
1839 C. M. Kirkland New Home v It's a rattle-snake; the Indians call them massisangas [i.e. massasaugas] and so folks calls 'em so too.
1844 C. M. Sedgwick Tales 200 There was considerable earthenware and silver teaspoons, and it was evident they had lived like folks.
1867 J. R. Lowell Fitz-Adam's Story 544 ‘Why, where in thunder were his horns and tail?’ ‘They're only worn by some old-fashioned pokes; They mostly aim at looking just like folks.’
5. Short for folk-music n. at Compounds 2. So folk-rock, folk-music with a strong beat; folk club, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > folk music > [noun]
folk-music1889
folk1963
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > pop music > [noun] > other pop music
a cappella1905
soundclash1925
marabi1933
doo-wop1958
filk1959
folk-rock1963
Liverpool sound1963
Mersey beat1963
Mersey sound1963
surf music1963
malombo1964
mbaqanga1964
easy listening1965
disco music1966
Motown1966
boogaloo1967
power pop1967
psychedelia1967
yé-yé1967
agitpop1968
bubblegum1968
Tamla Motown1968
Tex-Mex1968
downtempo1969
taarab1969
thrash1969
world music1969
funk1970
MOR1970
tropicalism1970
Afrobeat1971
electro-pop1971
post-rock1971
techno-pop1971
Tropicalia1971
tropicalismo1971
disco1972
Krautrock1972
schlager1973
Afropop1974
punk funk1974
disco funk1975
Europop1976
mgqashiyo1976
P-funk1976
funkadelia1977
karaoke music1977
alternative music1978
hardcore1978
psychobilly1978
punkabilly1978
R&B1978
cowpunk1979
dangdut1979
hip-hop1979
Northern Soul1979
rap1979
rapping1979
jit1980
trance1980
benga1981
New Romanticism1981
post-punk1981
rap music1981
scratch1982
scratch-music1982
synth-pop1982
electro1983
garage1983
Latin1983
Philly1983
New Age1984
New Age music1985
ambient1986
Britpop1986
gangster rap1986
house1986
house music1986
mbalax1986
rai1986
trot1986
zouk1986
bhangra1987
garage1987
hip-house1987
new school1987
old school1987
thrashcore1987
acid1988
acid house1988
acid jazz1988
ambience1988
Cantopop1988
dance1988
deep house1988
industrial1988
swingbeat1988
techno1988
dream pop1989
gangsta rap1989
multiculti1989
new jack swing1989
noise-pop1989
rave1989
Tejano1989
breakbeat1990
chill-out music1990
indie1990
new jack1990
new jill swing1990
noisecore1990
baggy1991
drum and bass1991
gangsta1991
handbag house1991
hip-pop1991
loungecore1991
psychedelic trance1991
shoegazing1991
slowcore1991
techno-house1991
gabba1992
jungle1992
sadcore1992
UK garage1992
darkcore1993
dark side1993
electronica1993
G-funk1993
sampladelia1994
trip hop1994
break1996
psy-trance1996
nu skool1997
folktronica1999
dubstep2002
Bongo Flava2003
grime2003
Bongo2004
singeli2015
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > pop music > [noun] > rock > types of
jazz-rock1915
rockabilly1956
rockaboogie1956
hard rock1959
folk-rock1963
soft rock1965
surf rock1965
acid rock1966
raga rock1966
progressive rock1968
Christian rock1969
cock rock1970
punk1970
punk rock1970
space rock1970
swamp rock1970
techno-rock1971
glitter rock1972
grunge1973
glam-rock1974
pub rock1974
alternative rock1975
dinosaur rock1975
prog rock1976
AOR1977
New Wave1977
pomp rock1978
prog1978
anarcho-punk1979
stadium rock1979
oi1981
alt-rock1982
noise1982
noise-rock1982
trash1983
mosh1985
emo-core1986
Goth1986
rawk1987
emo1988
grindcore1989
darkwave1990
queercore1991
lo-fi1993
dadrock1994
nu metal1995
1963 Observer 8 Sept. 12/7 MacColl learnt folk at his mother's knee, felt people should know their own music.
1965 New Society 20 May 26/3 There are..as many as 300 folk clubs..all over Britain..most of them grouped around a resident singer or group.
1965 Time 17 Sept. 102/2 Folk rock owes its origins to Bob Dylan, 24, folk music's most celebrated contemporary composer.
1966 Time 1 July 50 The folk-rock movement.
1966 Guardian 22 Dec. 4/7 In the pop/folk field the best new release is by The Incredible String Band.
1969 Down Beat 17 Apr. 24/2 The lyrics are characterized by the self-consciously whimsical or ironic or nouveau-romantic trends of folk-rock at its worst.
1971 Melody Maker 18 Sept. 36/1 The Crown is one of the foremost folk clubs in Edinburgh.
1971 Melody Maker 18 Sept. 36/3 It's still one of the best places in the country for folk in terms of performance and audience reaction.
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive.† folk-king n. Obsolete† folk-need n. Obsolete
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > sovereign ruler or monarch > king > [noun] > other types of king
folk-kingOE
boy-king1603
priest-king1606
shepherd king1744
king-emperor1789
OE Beowulf 2873 Nealles folccyning fyrdgesteallum gylpan þorfte.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4737 Fareð swiðe aȝen to þan folc-kinge.
ΚΠ
c1000 Ags. Ps. lxxvii[i]. 14 Him ealle niht, oðer beacen, fyres leoma, folc nede heold.
b. esp. in numerous modern combinations (formed after German precedent) with the sense ‘of, pertaining to, current or existing among, the people; traditional, of the common (local) people, esp. opposed to sophisticated, cosmopolitan’
folk-art n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > [noun] > folk-art
folk-art1921
1921 Art & Archæol. XI. 185 (title) Folk art.
1938 Encycl. Brit. Bk. of Year 476/2 A quiet growth of more spontaneous painting, some of it idyllic and reminiscent of folk art.
1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage ii. 41 A more recent tradition in dress which could be classed as folk art is that of the pearly kings and queens.
folk-artist n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > [noun] > artist > folk
folk-artist1934
1934 Hound & Horn July–Sept. 589 The spirit of a folk school of music so excites the folk artist that [etc.].
1959 Times 11 Dec. 16/2 He [sc. Barrie] remains a folk-artist.
folk-belief n.
ΚΠ
1892 G. L. Gomme Ethnol. in Folklore v. 123 These ghastly ceremonies throw much light on the old folk-belief as to the dead.
1922 W. B. Yeats Trembling of Veil 243 Folk-belief, tales of the fairies.
1933 E. K. Chambers Eng. Folk-play 216 A folk-belief may..explain the singular passage..in which the Fool..beholds his own face.
folk-comedy n.
ΚΠ
1952 D. Hoffman Paul Bunyan iv. 73 The authors..can dramatize folk comedy by contrasting it with the standards of cultivated society.
folk-culture n.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > customs, values, and civilization > customs, values, or beliefs of a society or group > [noun] > transmitted from one generation to another > folklore or folk culture
folklore1846
folk-culture1936
1936 Discovery Mar. 95/2 The volume is an important contribution to the study of European folk-culture.
1962 W. H. Auden Dyer's Hand (1963) 300 The beast in it [sc. fable] may be a folk-culture hero whose qualities of courage or cunning are to be imitated.
1964 J. Gould & W. L. Kolb Dict. Social Sci. 272/1 A folk culture..is a culture in which behaviour is highly conventionalized, personal, based on kinship, and controlled informally, traditionally, and through the ‘sacred’.
folk-custom n.
folk-drama n.
ΚΠ
1917 W. B. Yeats in Lett. J. Joyce (1966) II. 405 We do not play the folk drama very well.
1961 Times 23 May 15/1 Ballad and folk-drama.
folk-epic n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > legend or folk tale > [noun] > a legend or folk tale
pistlec1400
legend1581
saga1845
Märchen1869
folk-epic1904
1904 C. G. Child Beowulf p. v Great indeed would have been our loss, if..the only remaining folk-epic of the Germanic peoples, had perished in doing menial service to grocer or soap-seller.
1950 John o' London's Weekly 24 Nov. 629/1 A great folk-epic about the Cid Campeador.
folk faith n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > school of thought > [noun] > popular or unreasonable belief
superstition1771
mythology1823
folk faith1850
folklore1954
1850 Notes & Queries 1st Ser. 2 99/2 I believe that one item of folk-faith is that farm-yard odours are healthy.
folk-hero n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > fame or renown > famous or eminent person > [noun] > in folk culture
folk-hero1899
1899 Folk-lore X. iv. 407 The folk-heroes Hari Chand and Raja Amba.
1927 J. L. Brooks (title of thesis) Paul Bunyan: American folk hero.
1932 Q. D. Leavis Fiction & Reading Public ii. i. 92 The traditional folk-heroes like Crispine and Crispianus, Simon Eyre, and the Six Worthy Yeomen of the West.
1960 20th Cent. Dec. 557 Blues-singers..sanctified by white jazz intellectuals into folk-heroes.
1971 P. Driscoll White Lie Assignment xiii. 103 A guerilla in the new folk-hero style.
folk-legend n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > legend or folk tale > [noun]
story?1614
legendry1754
legend1765
folk-tale1891
folk-legend1909
pishogue1931
nancy story1974
1909 A. Herbert Isle of Man vii. 101 Around..the golden plover..is hung one of the prettiest of the folk-legends abounding in the isle.
folk-life n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > way of life > [noun] > specific > life of people of earlier times
folk-life1864
society > society and the community > customs, values, and civilization > customs, values, or beliefs of a society or group > [noun] > transmitted from one generation to another > traditional behaviour
folk-life1864
folkway1906
1864 Reader 1 Oct. 407 The minute notices concerning medicine [etc.]..that are scattered through the pages of our mediaeval biographers will increase our knowledge of the folk-life of the past.
1923 W. B. Yeats Plays & Controversies 210 We thought we could bring the old folk-life to Dublin.
1955 A. Lomax Mister Jelly Roll (ed. 3) p. xv It is within the folklife of these Creoles that the emotional character of hot jazz is to be found.
1966 G. E. Evans Pattern under Plough 21 Folk-life implies a holistic approach whose main definition is not in method but in the field of study.
folk-literature n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > [noun] > specific types of literature > folk
folk-literature1893
1893 W. B. Yeats Celtic Twilight 201 Irish folk-literature.
folk-medicine n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > art or science of medicine > [noun] > folk-medicine
folk-medicine1898
ethnomedicine1901
traditional medicine1957
1898 E. Clodd Tom Tit Tot vi. 61 Folk-medicine, the wide world through, is full of prescriptions based on sympathetic or antipathetic magic.
1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 6 Aug. 605/1 In this book an attempt is made to resuscitate and standardize much forgotten folk medicine.
1968 Times 3 Dec. 10/7 Yet another piece of folk medicine seems to have been vindicated in the laboratory.
folk-mind n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > social psychology > psychology of races or peoples > [noun] > common consciousness
folk-mind1899
mass psychology1900
1899 Folk-Lore 10 iv. 385 The surest way therefore of projecting oneself into the folk-mind..is..to take up the various points as they have seemed to grow one out of the other in folk-logic and processes of thought.
1924 P. C. Buck Scope of Mus. ix. 116 The composer, if it is the work of one man, or the folk-mind, if it is the result of the friction of use, knew better.
1957 Times Lit. Suppl. 1 Nov. 656/3 It is hard..to think of Loki as other than fundamentally malignant, and very hard to think of the folk-mind, even over centuries, turning him into a sympathetic comic figure.
folk-museum n.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > manifestation > showing to the sight > exposure to public view > an exhibition > [noun] > museum > type of
antiquarium1651
war museum1917
folk-museum1936
museumobile1948
Exploratorium1968
ecomuseum1976
heritage centre1976
exploratory1982
1936 M. Allis Eng. Prelude xxiv. 258 In Strangers' Hall and Suckling House Norwich offers the most complete, if not the only, folk museums in England.
1966 P. V. Price France: Food & Wine Guide 126 Collections of objects connected with wine and food..are frequently found in folk museums.
folk-name n.
ΚΠ
1924 A. Mawer & F. M. Stenton Introd. Surv. Eng. Place-names iii. 50 These names are important as a link between the folk-names and place-names restricted to some particular spot.
1960 P. H. Reaney Orig. Eng. Place-names vi. 99 The earliest place-names created by the Anglo-Saxons were not originally place-names in the strict sense of the word; they were folk-names.
folk-poem n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poem or piece of poetry > other types of poem > [noun] > folk poem or poetry
folk-rhyme1889
folk-poetry1892
folk-poem1940
1940 Horizon Mar. 170 A real folk-poem, it was in its way a work of art.
1963 Times 18 July 5/3 A suite of old folk-poems about Charity as exemplified in the tale of Dives and Lazarus.
folk-poetry n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poem or piece of poetry > other types of poem > [noun] > folk poem or poetry
folk-rhyme1889
folk-poetry1892
folk-poem1940
1892 S. A. Brooke Hist. Early Eng. Lit. I. 90 As to the spears singing..that is a common phrase in ancient folk-poetry.
1903 L. F. Anderson Anglo-Saxon Scop 10 Mone..states his belief that we have in the..passage a reference to Germanic folk-poetry.
1923 A. Huxley On Margin 54 The Folk Poetry of 1920 may best be classified according to subject-matter.
1965 G. McInnes Road to Gundagai xvi. 280 The earthy folk-poetry of C. J. Dennis.
folk-rhyme n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poem or piece of poetry > other types of poem > [noun] > folk poem or poetry
folk-rhyme1889
folk-poetry1892
folk-poem1940
1889 Chambers's Jrnl. 6 670/1 English folk-rhymes are very numerous and curious.
1959 I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren xv. 333 The future is worked out with the aid of an old folk rhyme.
Thesaurus »
folk-speech n.
folk-tale n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > legend or folk tale > [noun]
story?1614
legendry1754
legend1765
folk-tale1891
folk-legend1909
pishogue1931
nancy story1974
1891 Athenæum 10 Oct. 486/3 Those who believe in the origin of folk-tales from the cultured.
1935 R. Girvan Beowulf & 7th Cent. 82 In Beowulf the folk~tale is the story: all the rest is incidental.
folk-tradition n.
ΚΠ
1950 M. J. C. Hodgart Ballads v. 110 There were poets of taste who were close enough to folk-tradition to be able to adapt it without making it look literary.
1971 Guardian 3 July 8/5 We [sc. Londoners] 've got so much more folk tradition than most places.
folk wave n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > furnishing with inhabitants > migration > [noun] > en masse
great migration1838
folk wave1880
Völkerwanderung1934
1880 J. Geikie Prehist. Europe 9 One of those great folk-waves which have successively swept over Europe.
C2.
folk-blues n. [blues n.] the original ‘blues’ of the black people of the southern U.S., as opposed to composed imitations.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > folk music > [noun] > blues
blues1912
rhythm and blues1924
folk-blues1926
bottleneck blues1928
policy blues1928
R&B1949
boogie1976
1926 A. Niles in W. C. Handy Blues 3 Some folk-blues were love songs.
1959 ‘F. Newton’ Jazz Scene vi. 99 The anonymity and impersonal grandeur of the folk-blues.
folk-dance n. a dance of popular origin; the music for such a dance.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > folk-dance or dancing > [noun]
folk-dancing1908
folk-dance1909
sakkie-sakkie1982
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > dance music > [noun] > folk or country dance
country dance?1577
set1836
gypsy dance1839
contre-danse1880
folk-dance1909
1909 E. Burchenal (title) Folk-dances and singing games.
1912 C. J. Sharp Folk Dancing in Schools 4 The three main types of folk-dance found in England are:—(1) The Morris Dance. (2) The Sword Dance. (3) The Country Dance.
folk-dance v. (intransitive) .
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > folk-dance or dancing > folk-dance [verb (intransitive)]
folk-dance1927
1927 Observer 2 Oct. 19/4 He defied anyone who folk-danced to be unhappy.
1954 M. Ewer Heart Untouched v. 77 Do they folk-dance? Do they make ghastly things in raffia?
1967 A. Chujoy & P. W. Manchester Dance Encycl. 370/2 In N.Y. alone there are enough folk dance sessions to offer anyone an opportunity to join in folk-dancing almost every day of the week.
folk-dancer n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > folk-dance or dancing > [noun] > folk-dancer
folk-dancer1936
1936 Discovery Dec. 396/2 The Portuguese folk-singers, folk-players, and folk-dancers go through their traditional performances with a complete lack of self consciousness.
folk-dancing n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > folk-dance or dancing > [noun]
folk-dancing1908
folk-dance1909
sakkie-sakkie1982
1908 [see ].
1908 Amer. Physical Educ. Rev. Oct. 375 The place of folk dancing.
1927 Observer 2 Oct. 19/4 If there was more singing of the old songs and more folk-dancing.
folk-etymology n. usually, the popular perversion of the form of words in order to render it apparently significant.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > linguistic unit > word > [noun] > change of form of word to give significance
popular etymology1789
parasynesis1877
folk-etymology1883
1883 G. Stephens S. Bugge's Stud. N. Mythol. 28 It does not mend the matter, if, when we have no better argument, we call it folk-etymology.
folkfest n. [fest n.] chiefly North American a festival of folk songs and other elements of folk culture
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > a performance > [noun] > music festival
stethva1612
festival1753
music festival1790
musical festival1804
Eisteddfod1822
Sängerfest1865
mod1891
Oireachtas1896
songfest1903
biennial1928
pop festival1951
folkfest1963
fleadh1966
rockfest1966
fleadh cheoil1972
festie1988
1963 Variety 7 Aug. 2/4 (heading) Newport Folk Fest's P[ublic] D[omain] & Civil Rights overtones stir Attorney John Clark.
1968 Guardian 8 Apr. 1/3 The Mayors have set a curfew..and there are no theatres,..banquets, dances, and folkfests.
1975 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 24 June 18/2 Folkfest is part of July 1 events... Songs and dances from around the world will be performed.
folk-free adj. having the rights of a freeman.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > [adjective] > having civil liberty
freeeOE
folk-freea1000
franchised?a1417
a1000 Laws Wihtræd §8 Gif man his mæn an wiofode freols gefe, se sie folcfry.
1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe III. ii. 39 Folk-free and Sacless art thou in town and from town.
folk high school n. [translating Danish folkehøjskole] a school of adult education, originating in Denmark, now also in other Scandinavian countries.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > place of education > school > [noun] > other types of school
writing schoola1475
rectory1536
spelling school1704
greycoat1706
rural school1734
Charter School1763
home school1770
Philanthropine1797
British school1819
side school1826
prep school1829
trade school1829
Progymnasium1833
finishing-school1836
field schoola1840
field school1846
prairie school1851
graded school1852
model school1854
Philanthropinum1856
stagiary school1861
grade school1869
middle school1870
language school1878
correspondence school1889
day continuation school1889
prep1891
Sunday school1901
farm school1903
weekend school1907
Charter School1912
folk high school1914
pre-kindergarten1922
Rabfak1924
cram-shop1926
free school1926
crammer1931
composite school1943
outward-bound1943
blackboard jungle1954
pathshala1956
Vo-Tech1956
St. Trinian's1958
juku1962
cadre school1966
telecentre1967
academy2000
academy school2000
1914 U.S. Bureau of Education Bull. no. xxii. 1914 (title) The Danish Folk High Schools.
1949 E. L. Allen Bishop Grundtvig vii. 82 A large proportion of the heads of folk high-schools to-day are men with a theological training.
1966 D. Jenkins Educated Society iii. 125 The Folk High School movement obviously has achieved a great success in the predominantly agrarian communities of Scandinavia.
folk-jazz n. see folk-blues n.
ΚΠ
1950 A. Lomax Mister Jelly Roll (1952) 185 Linking the folk-jazz half-world to the super-respectable and stuffy world of the music business.
folk-law n. (usually in plural) a customary law of the people, applied esp. to the Leges Barbarorum, the laws of the Germanic peoples.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > branch of the law > [noun] > common and customary
eeOE
customc1300
common lawa1325
consuetude1496
custom law1616
folk-law1884
1884 Academy 23 Feb. 126/1 Folk-law is astonishingly conservative.
1898 E. Jenks Law & Politics Middle Ages ii. 32 While France and Germany have their feudal laws..England is still in the twilight of the folk-laws.
1962 H. R. Loyn Anglo-Saxon Eng. iv. 175 It is not a mere quibble..to question a sharp cleavage between ideas of royal law and folk-law.
folk-leasing n. Old English Law public lying, slander.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > damage to reputation > slander or calumny > [noun]
teleeOE
folk-leasinga1000
tolec1000
wrayingc1000
missaw?c1225
slanderc1290
disclanderc1300
famationc1325
noisec1325
skander1338
missaying1340
misspeecha1375
slanderingc1380
biting1382
defaminga1400
filtha1400
missaya1400
obloquya1438
oblocution?a1439
juroryc1440
defamationa1450
defamea1450
forspeaking1483
depravinga1500
defamya1513
injury?1518
depravation1526
maledictiona1530
abusion?1530
blasphemation1533
infamation1533
insectationa1535
calumning1541
calumniation?1549
abuse1559
calumnying1563
calumny1564
belying?1565
illingc1575
scandalizing1575
misparlance?1577
blot1587
libelling1587
scandal1596
traducement1597
injurying1604
deprave1610
vilifying1611
noisec1613
disfame1620
sycophancy1622
aspersion1633
disreport1640
medisance1648
bollocking1653
vilification1653
sugillation1654
blasphemya1656
traduction1656
calumniating1660
blaspheming1677
aspersing1702
blowing1710
infamizing1827
malignation1836
mud-slinging1858
mud-throwing1864
denigration1868
mud-flinging1876
dénigrement1883
malignment1885
injurious falsehood1907
mud-sling1919
bad-mouthing1939
bad mouth1947
trash-talking1974
a1000 Laws Ælf. §32 Gif mon folc-leasunge gewyrce..him mon aceorfe þa tungan.
1812 Burke's Speech Powers Juries in Libels, 1771 in Wks. V. 402 An offence of this species, called Folk-leasing.
folk-memory n. recollection of the past persisting among a people or group.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > retrospection, reminiscence > [noun] > recollection by a group
race memory1884
folk-memory1908
1908 W. Johnson (title) Folk-memory; or, The continuity of British archæology.
1939 R. G. Collingwood Autobiogr. xi. 143 ‘Folk-memory’..the transmission by example and precept of certain ways of thinking and acting from generation to generation.
1960 K. M. Kenyon Archaeol. in Holy Land viii. 208 The length of folk memory, though it may be reasonably accurate as to the occurrence of important events, is short as regards chronological exactitude.
folk-music n. music of popular origin.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > folk music > [noun]
folk-music1889
folk1963
1889 G. B. Shaw in Star 16 Mar. 4/1 All good ‘folk music’ is as international as the story of 'Jack the Giant Killer'.
1907 C. J. Sharp Eng. Folk-song p. ix It is impossible to say how far the folk-music that has survived in a county like Somerset is..truly representative of English folk-song as a whole.
1971 Guardian 3 July 8/1 Cecil Sharp deliberately looked for English folk music in other countries, especially America.
folk-musician n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musician > [noun] > folk-musician
folk-musician1907
klezmer1929
folkie1966
1907 C. J. Sharp Eng. Folk-song 34 The folk-musician..is under no such temptation [to make music for the sake of making it].
1941 L. MacNeice Poetry of Yeats viii. 165 A poet of the folk-musician type.
ˈfolknik n. [ < folk n. + -nik suffix, after beatnik n.] a devotee of folk-music; also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > music appreciation > music lover > [noun] > of folk music
folknik1958
1958 in Amer. Speech (1966) 41 139 In Greenwich Village..lies the Folklore Center..near the door is the lettering ‘Israel G. Young’... Invariably, folkniks (to quote Izzy) are present, for this den is the meeting place..for New York's up and coming folksingers and hangers on.
1961 McLean's 25 Mar. 18/1 He is exhibiting with increasing frequency in the circle of Toronto restaurants and coffee houses known locally as folknik spots.
1963 Observer 8 Sept. 12/6 Folkniks..are the adherents, mostly teenaged, of the new-style folk~song movement—an austere group who prefer their songs unaccompanied... In the spreading folknik clubs, amplifiers are forbidden.
folk-play n. a traditional type of play.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > a play > [noun] > other types of play
king play1469
king game1504
historya1509
chronicle history1600
monology1608
horseplaya1627
piscatory1631
stock play1708
petite pièce1712
mimic1724
ballad opera1730
ballad farce1735
benefit-play1740
potboiler1783
monodrama1793
extravaganza1797
theo-drama1801
monodrame1803
proverb1803
stock piece1804
bespeak1807
ticket-night1812
dramaticle1813
monopolylogue1819
pièce d'occasion1830
interlude1831
mimea1834
costume piece1834
mummers' play1849
history play1850
gag-piece1860
music drama1874
well-made1881
playlet1884
two-decker1884
slum1885
kinderspiel1886
thrill1886
knockabout1887
two-hander1888
front-piece1889
thriller1889
shadow-play1890
mime play1894
problem play1894
one-acter1895
sex play1899
chronicle drama1902
thesis-play1902
star vehicle1904
folk-play1905
radio play1908
tab1915
spy play1919
one-act1920
pièce à thèse1923
dance-drama1924
a mess of plottage1926
turkey1927
weepie1928
musical1930
cliffhanger1931
mime drama1931
triangle drama1931
weeper1934
spine-chiller1940
starrer1941
scorcher1942
teleplay1947
straw-hatter1949
pièce noire1951
pièce rose1951
tab show1951
conversation piece1952
psychodrama1956
whydunit1968
mystery play1975
State of the Nation1980
1905 Westm. Gaz. 7 Apr. 12/1 This pageant, which takes the form of a folk-play specially written and invented by Mr. Louis N. Parker, deals with the chief events in the history of the town.
1933 E. K. Chambers (title) The English folk play.
1969 in H. Halpert & G. M. Story Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland 59 An attempt to write the detailed history of the folk play must await the results of current investigations.
folk-player n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > actor > [noun] > actor in specific type of play
comedy player1550
tragedy player1552
comediant1568
tragic1577
tragedian1590
comedian1603
comic1619
interludera1627
pastorista1627
tragicomediana1627
tragedy actor1690
low comedian1740
tragedy man1784
exodiary1793
farcer1813
monopolylogist1830
stock actor1839
beneficiaire1841
monologuist1853
monologist1858
burlesquer1869
opera-bouffer1870
low comedy1885
knockabout1887
farceur1889
folk-player1936
1936Folk-players [see folk-dancer n.].
folk-psychology n. [translating German völkerpsychologie] = ethnopsychology n.; so folk-psychologist.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > social psychology > psychology of races or peoples > [noun]
ethnopsychology1863
folk-psychology1889
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > social psychology > psychology of races or peoples > [noun] > student of
folk-psychologist1918
1889 Cent. Dict. Folk-psychology.
1918 R. S. Woodworth Dynamic Psychol. i. 12 In the sixties, there was even published for several years in Germany a journal of ‘folk psychology’.
1918 R. S. Woodworth Dynamic Psychol. i. 13 The methods and presuppositions of the older folk psychologists have not stood the test of time.
1957 J. S. Huxley Relig. without Revelation v. 108 Explanations of the origin of religion in terms of animism or magic or folk psychology.
folk-singer n. a singer of folk-songs.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musician > singer > singer of other types of music > [noun] > others
mourner1631
catcher1652
monodist1751
pennill singer1784
folk-singer1898
moaner1927
bluesman1930
calypsonian1934
torch singer1934
lieder-singer1936
torcher1940
country singer1953
protest singer1966
ragga1997
1898 Folk-lore IX. i. 49 The sagas..died out because there were no folk-singers qualified to present them.
1927 Observer 12 June 13/2 Altogether more than fifty folk-singers and craft workers hailing from all parts of French Canada were gathered together.
1961 Guardian 9 May 7/2 The white folk-singers of the southern back~woods.
folk-singing n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > singing > [noun] > singing of other music
operatics1845
folk-singing1907
lieder-singing1937
pop singing1945
torch singing1947
protest-singing1966
rapping1979
MC-ing1984
1907 C. J. Sharp Eng. Folk-song p. viii Only those, perhaps, who have been brought into close contact with the old folk-singers of to-day, can fully realize how intimately folk-singing and folk-dancing have..been bound up with the social life of the English village.
1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 30 Apr. 344/4 The free rhythm and florid ornament..characteristic of Greek folk-singing.
1934 W. B. Yeats King of Great Clock Tower 18 Her method was ‘folk-singing’ or allied to it.
1971 Guardian 3 July 8/2 Purists..regard the folk-singing..as being ‘impure’.
folk-stead n. (see quot. 1876).
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > place of resort > [noun] > place of assembly
forum1735
venue1857
folk-stead1876
zoo1885
whare puni1911
assembly-place1936
lapa1982
OE Beowulf 76 Weorc gebannan manigre mægþe..folcstede frætwan.
1876 C. C. Robinson Gloss. Words Dial. Mid-Yorks. Folkstead, an out-door place of assembly for general purposes. ‘The chapel wouldn't hold them all, so they made a folkstead of the garth.’
folk-tune n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > type of piece > [noun] > other types of piece
tinternel1573
aubade1678
nome1705
accompaniment1728
potboiler1783
raga1789
elegy1808
improvisation1824
pièce d'occasion1830
morceau de salon1854
tum-tum1859
murky1876
test-piece1876
invention1880
monodia1880
serenata1883
monody1887
dumka1895
incidental number1904
a cappella1905
folk-tune1907
realization1911
nosebleeder1921
show tune1927
sicilienne1927
estampie1937
ballad1944
Siciliana1947
hard rocker1957
rabble-rouser1958
display1959
mobile1961
soundscape1968
grower1973
lounge1978
1907 C. J. Sharp Eng. Folk-song p. x The folk-tune presents many problems of absorbing interest to the musical theorist.
1914 C. J. Sharp Folk Singing in Schools 5 The folk-tunes which have recently been collected from the English peasantry.
1957 A. R. Manvell & J. Huntley Technique Film Music ii. 51 A glimpse of a folk-tune is sometimes heard on French horns.
folkway n. (usually inplural) the traditional behaviour of a people or group.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > customs, values, and civilization > customs, values, or beliefs of a society or group > [noun] > transmitted from one generation to another > traditional behaviour
folk-life1864
folkway1906
1906 W. G. Sumner Folkways p. iii I formed the word ‘folkways’ on the analogy of words already in use in sociology... Folkways are habits of the individual and customs of the society which arise from efforts to satisfy needs... Then they become regulative for succeeding generations and take on the character of a social force.
1925 W. P. Montague Ways of Knowing v. 142 There are cases when a ‘folkway’ or social habit becomes actively evil.
1959 G. D. Mitchell Sociol. v. 78 Customs may be differentiated into folkways and mores.
1964 J. Gould & W. L. Kolb Dict. Social Sci. 273/2 Folkways are the learned shared behaviour common to a people.
1971 ‘E. Fenwick’ Impeccable People iii. 17 He had learned to swallow the folkways of Parsons Point.
folk weave n. (also folkweave) (see quot. 1960); also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > weaving > other methods of weaving
cross-weaving1843
Swedish work1882
satin weave1884
plain-weave1888
swivel-weaving1894
swivel-weft1894
mat1904
tabby weave1906
tablet weaving1921
basket weave1925
ikat1931
folk weave1938
pebble weave1941
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [adjective] > weaving > types of
high warp1728
plain-weave1888
waffle1930
folk weave1938
leno1964
1938 Decorative Art 50 The gaily striped folk-weaves on sofas.
1939 Soft Furnishing in Workroom 10 Brown/Beige Folkweave Fabric..for Loose Cover.
1949 E. Coxhead Wind in West v. 123 Her three-piece leatherette suite, her beige and orange folk~weave curtains.
1960 Textile Terms & Defs. (ed. 4) 70 Folk weave, n. or adj., a term applied to any construction which, when used in loosely woven fabrics made from coarse yarns, gives a rough and irregular surface effect.
Draft additions December 2005
folkcraft n. the making of traditional objects, usually by hand or by traditional methods; objects so made.
ΚΠ
1884 Folk-lore Jrnl. 2 312 Folk-craft, corresponding to the study of art and industry.
1924 Chambers's Jrnl. Dec. 769/1 It must be one of those elaborate pieces of folk-craft in which the Bretons delight.
1984 Sojourner (Nexis) 20 Apr. 24 The arpilleras are works of art rooted in the popular tradition of folkcraft and nourished by a particular reality: a country invaded.
2003 Smithsonian July 48/1 Eventually, I repair to a teahouse called Dadamsun, on a narrow, curving street hard by Insadong, a district famous for art galleries and shops selling folkcraft.
Draft additions March 2021
folk religion n. the spiritual beliefs and practices particular to a community, which are not affiliated with any major religious institution; (also) a specific form of this.Folk religions are often syncretic in nature, and many incorporate elements of one or more major religion.
ΚΠ
1884 ‘J. G. Taylire’ Ye Lateste D'evil xxii. 107 The Count took the wonderful document [sc. a certificate of baptism he had purchased] and departed, marvelling at the economy of folk religion.
1909 W. Y. Evans-Wentz Fairy-faith in Celtic Countries (1911) ii. 22 The Fairy-Faith as the folk-religion of the Celtic peoples is still able to count its adherents by hundreds of thousands.
1968 L. Schulberg Hist. India v. 105/2 Still other carvings were derived from Indian folk religions, and include the tree-spirits and fertility figures worshiped in pre-Hindu times by the Dravidians.
2004 Record (Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont.) (Nexis) 27 Nov. p8 While most Haitians practise Christianity, they can't cut their connection to Voodoo, the folk religion that combines elements of traditional African religions and Roman Catholicism.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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