/fohk/ , n.
1. Usually, folks . ( used with a pl. v. ) people in general: Folks say there wasn't much rain last summer.
2. Often, folks . ( used with a pl. v. ) people of a specified class or group: country folk; poor folks.
3. ( used with a pl. v. ) people as the carriers of culture, esp. as representing the composite of social mores, customs, forms of behavior, etc., in a society: The folk are the bearers of oral tradition.
4. folks , Informal.
a. members of one's family; one's relatives: All his folks come from France.
b. one's parents: Will your folks let you go?
5. Archaic. a people or tribe.
6. just folks , Informal. (of persons) simple, unaffected, unsophisticated, or open-hearted people: He enjoyed visiting his grandparents because they were just folks.
adj.
7. of or originating among the common people: folk beliefs; a folk hero.
8. having unknown origins and reflecting the traditional forms of a society: folk culture; folk art.
[ bef. 900; ME; OE folc; c. OS, ON folk, OHG folk (G Volk ) ]
Syn. 4. kinfolk, kin, relations, people; clan, tribe.