folk

noun

1. 1

   archaicA people; a tribe or nation; the inhabitants of a region, especially the native inhabitants.

   The organization of each folk, as such, sprang mainly from war.

   We thus arrive at a most unexpected imbroglio. The French have become a Germanic folk and the Germanic folk have become Gaulish!

2. 2

   People, persons.

   There were a lot of folk in the streets.

   Young folk, old folk, everybody come / To our little Sunday School, and have a lot of fun.

   “[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes[…]. And then, when you see [the senders], you probably find that they are the most melancholy old folk with malignant diseases. […]”

3. 3

   One’s relatives, especially one’s parents.

   I need to call my folks back home.

4. 4

   Variant of folk musicEllipsis of folk music.

adjective

1. 1

   Of or pertaining to the inhabitants of a land, their culture, tradition, or history.

2. 2

   Of or pertaining to common people as opposed to ruling classes or elites.

3. 3

   Of or related to local building materials and styles.

4. 4

   Believed or transmitted by the common people; not academically or ideologically correct or rigorous.

   folk psychology; folk linguistics

   Americans are not libertarians in the Cato Institute sense of the word, but they are folk libertarians in this sense of impulsive behaviour, which is a feature of American life that anyone who wants to govern the United States, Democratic or Republican, has to be aware of.

Forms

plural

folks