Volk
/fɔlk/noun
A people, nation, or folk; in German, a people or population.
Did you know?German Volk and English folk are close cousins from a Proto-Germanic word for “people,” and that ancient root also survives in names like the Slavic people’s ethnonym Volkh/Volk in some historical contexts, though modern meanings diverge sharply.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*fulką
“people, tribe, army”
Old English
OE
folc
“people, tribe, nation, host”
Old High German
OHG
folc
“people, crowd, host”
Middle High German
MHG
volc
“people, nation, crowd”
Modern German
German
Volk
“people, nation, common people”