folc

See also: Folc and FoLC

Catalan

Alternative forms

• folcat

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *folk (“people, tribe”), perhaps via a Vulgar Latin fulcus. Compare Old French foulc (Modern French foule).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈfolk]

Noun

folc m (plural folcs)

1. herd, flock

   Synonym: ramat

Further reading

• “folc”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin fulgur.

Noun

folc m

1. thunderbolt

   Synonyms: saete, sfulmin

Irish

Etymology 1

From Old Irish folc (“heavy rain, wet weather”).

Noun

folc f (genitive singular foilce, nominative plural folca)

1. downpour, flood

Declension

Declension of folc (second declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative folc folca vocative a fholc a fholca genitive foilce folc dative folc folca forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an fholc na folca genitive na foilce na bhfolc dative leis an bhfolc don fholc leis na folca

Derived terms

• folcmhar (“pouring, torrential”, adjective)

Etymology 2

From Old Irish folcaid (“washes”), from Proto-Celtic *wolkīti. Cognate with Scottish Gaelic failc (“to bathe”), and more distantly Welsh golchi, Cornish golhi, Breton gwalc'hiñ.

Verb

folc (present analytic folcann, future analytic folcfaidh, verbal noun folcadh, past participle folctha)

1. (transitive) bathe
2. (transitive) wash
3. (transitive) immerse, submerge, drench

Conjugation

Conjugation of folc (first conjugation – A)

verbal noun	folcadh
past participle	folctha
tense	singular			plural			relative	autonomous
	first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative
present	folcaim	folcann tú; folcair†	folcann sé, sí	folcaimid	folcann sibh	folcann siad; folcaid†	a fholcann; a fholcas / a bhfolcann*	folctar
past	d'fholc mé; d'fholcas / fholc mé‡; fholcas‡	d'fholc tú; d'fholcais / fholc tú; fholcais‡	d'fholc sé, sí / fholc sé, sí‡	d'fholcamar; d'fholc muid / fholcamar; fholc muid‡	d'fholc sibh; d'fholcabhair / fholc sibh; fholcabhair‡	d'fholc siad; d'fholcadar / fholc siad; fholcadar‡	a d'fholc / ar fholc*	folcadh
past habitual	d'fholcainn / fholcainn‡; bhfolcainn‡‡	d'fholctá / fholctá‡; bhfolctᇇ	d'fholcadh sé, sí / fholcadh sé, sí‡; bhfolcadh sé, s퇇	d'fholcaimis; d'fholcadh muid / fholcaimis; fholcadh muid‡; bhfolcaimis‡‡; bhfolcadh muid‡‡	d'fholcadh sibh / fholcadh sibh‡; bhfolcadh sibh‡‡	d'fholcaidís; d'fholcadh siad / fholcaidís; fholcadh siad‡; bhfolcaidís‡‡; bhfolcadh siad‡‡	a d'fholcadh / a bhfolcadh*	d'fholctaí / fholctaí‡; bhfolcta퇇
future	folcfaidh mé; folcfad	folcfaidh tú; folcfair†	folcfaidh sé, sí	folcfaimid; folcfaidh muid	folcfaidh sibh	folcfaidh siad; folcfaid†	a fholcfaidh; a fholcfas / a bhfolcfaidh*	folcfar
conditional	d'fholcfainn / fholcfainn‡; bhfolcfainn‡‡	d'fholcfá / fholcfá‡; bhfolcfᇇ	d'fholcfadh sé, sí / fholcfadh sé, sí‡; bhfolcfadh sé, s퇇	d'fholcfaimis; d'fholcfadh muid / fholcfaimis‡; fholcfadh muid‡; bhfolcfaimis‡‡; bhfolcfadh muid‡‡	d'fholcfadh sibh / fholcfadh sibh‡; bhfolcfadh sibh‡‡	d'fholcfaidís; d'fholcfadh siad / fholcfaidís‡; fholcfadh siad‡; bhfolcfaidís‡‡; bhfolcfadh siad‡‡	a d'fholcfadh / a bhfolcfadh*	d'fholcfaí / fholcfaí‡; bhfolcfa퇇
subjunctive
present	go bhfolca mé; go bhfolcad†	go bhfolca tú; go bhfolcair†	go bhfolca sé, sí	go bhfolcaimid; go bhfolca muid	go bhfolca sibh	go bhfolca siad; go bhfolcaid†	—	go bhfolctar
past	dá bhfolcainn	dá bhfolctá	dá bhfolcadh sé, sí	dá bhfolcaimis; dá bhfolcadh muid	dá bhfolcadh sibh	dá bhfolcaidís; dá bhfolcadh siad	—	dá bhfolctaí
imperative
–	folcaim	folc	folcadh sé, sí	folcaimis	folcaigí; folcaidh†	folcaidís	—	folctar

* indirect relative
† archaic or dialect form
‡ dependent form
‡‡ dependent form used with particles that trigger eclipsis

Derived terms

• folcadán (“bath”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of folc

radical	lenition	eclipsis
folc	fholc	bhfolc

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “folc”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959), “folc”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “folc”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2025

Middle English

Noun

folc

1. (chiefly Early Middle English) alternative form of folk

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *folk, from Proto-Germanic *fulką.

Noun

folc n

1. people, folk
2. army, troop

Inflection

Declension of folc (neuter a-stem noun)

case	singular	plural
nominative	folc	folc
accusative	folc	folc
genitive	folkes	folco
dative	folke	folcon

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: volc
  • Dutch: volk, vouk (dialectal)
    • Afrikaans: volk
    • Negerhollands: volk, folok, folk, fulok, fuluk, folluk
    • → Sranan Tongo: folku
  • Limburgish: vouk

Further reading

• “folk”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *fulką (“people”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /folk/, [foɫk]

Noun

folc n

1. the people, especially the common people

   Lēodhatan frēoġaþ hīe selfe, ac hīe ġeþēowiaþ þæt folc.

   Dictators free themselves, but they enslave the people.

2. a people, nation, or tribe
   • Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church

     Þæt sixte wīte wæs, þæt mislīċe ḡeswel and blǣdran asprungon on heora līchaman on eallum his folce.

     The sixth plague was that various swellings and pustules sprung up on the bodies of all of his people.

3. crowd
4. the public
   • late 9th century, translation of Orosius' History Against the Pagans

     Hīe sæġdon þām folce þæt heora godu him wǣren ierru, tō þȳ þæt hīe him þā ġīet swīðor blēoten þonne hīe ǣr dydon.

     They told the public that their gods were angry at them, so they would sacrifice to them even more than they had before.

5. (in the singular or plural) people (multiple individuals)
6. military, army; troop
7. (in compounds) popular
8. (in compounds) public, common
9. (in compounds) country, rural

Declension

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	folc	folc
accusative	folc	folc
genitive	folces	folca
dative	folce	folcum

Derived terms

• folcġemōt
• folcġerēfa
• folcland
• folclīċ
• folcmōt
• folcrǣden
• folcryht
• folcsæl
• folcscaru
• folcstede

Descendants

• Middle English: folk, folc, folck, follc, volc (Early Middle English), foolk, folke (Late Middle English), fok, foke (Northern), volk (Kent or Southern)
  • English: folk; folkes
  • Scots: fowk