English
volk
Volk comes from Afrikaans volk ‘people’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *fulką ‘troop, army’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fulką‘troop, army’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*folkreconstructed
- Old Dutchc. 500–1150folc‘people, folk’
- Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500volc‘people, folk’
- Dutchc. 1500–presentvolk‘people, nation’
- Afrikaansmodernsame form‘people’
- Englishearliest quotation 2012same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fulką‘troop, army’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*folkreconstructed
- Old Dutchc. 500–1150folc‘people, folk’
- Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500volc‘people, folk’
- Dutchc. 1500–presentvolk‘people, nation’
- Afrikaansmodernsame form‘people’
- Englishearliest quotation 2012same form
Earliest quotation: 2012, Nadine Gordimer, No Time Like the Present: “The lover, Tertius […] is a journalist regarded by…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- ‘to fill’
people, public, full, complete, popular, plus, supply, plenty, fill, plain, completion, implement, accomplish, comply, supplement, poll, manipulation, complement, ample, plural, amplitude, plethora, amplify, depletion, plenary, replenish, replete, puri, plenum, deplete, plebs, plebeian, fulsome, 75 more
through Proto-West Germanic *folk
Today it means
noun The Afrikaner people.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *fulką / volk