Etymograph

English

volk

Volk comes from Afrikaans volk ‘people’, from Proto-Germanic *fulką ‘troop, army’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- ‘to fill’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₁-1‘to fill’reconstructedearlier origin unknown
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₁-gós1uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fulką2‘troop, army’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*folk3reconstructed
  5. Old Dutchc. 500–1150folc2‘people, folk’
  6. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500volc2‘people, folk’
  7. Dutchc. 1500–presentvolk2‘people, nation’
  8. Afrikaansmodernvolk4‘people’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 2012volk4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *fulką, which cites Orel
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Afrikaans volk
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old Dutch folc
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English volk
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2012, Nadine Gordimer, No Time Like the Present: “The lover, Tertius […] is a journalist regarded by…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₁-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *fulką, which cites Orel‘to fill’reconstructedearlier origin unknown
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₁-gósWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *fulką, which cites Oreluncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fulkąWiktionary, Afrikaans volk‘troop, army’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*folkWiktionary, Old Dutch folcreconstructed
  5. Old Dutchc. 500–1150folcWiktionary, Afrikaans volk‘people, folk’
  6. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500volcWiktionary, Afrikaans volk‘people, folk’
  7. Dutchc. 1500–presentvolkWiktionary, Afrikaans volk‘people, nation’
  8. AfrikaansmodernvolkWiktionary, English volk‘people’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 2012volkWiktionary, English volk. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 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

folk

Today it means

noun The Afrikaner people.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “volk”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *fulką, Afrikaans volk, Old Dutch folc. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- / volk

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