English Folk "people"'s derived from a Germanic noun *fulka meaning "people" or "army" (for example a crowd as opposed to "a people" in a more abstract sense of clan or tribe). The English word folk has cognates in most of the other Germanic languages. Folk may be a Germanic root that's unique to the Germanic languages, although Latin vulgus, "the common people", has been suggested as a possible cognate. Etymology The Modern English word folk, derives from Old English folc meaning "common people… (More on Folk)