Phrase guide

folk song

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A song, in any folk style, originating among ordinary people, usually non-professional musicians, and handed down by oral tradition.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

folk music

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A song in the style of folk music, a modern genre of popular music.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a song that is traditionally sung by the common people of a region and forms part of their culture

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: folksong, folk ballad

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: song, vocal, folk music, ethnic music, folk

Narrower terms: blues, fado

History

Etymology

From folk + song.

Across languages

Translations

48 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: أُغْنِيَّة شَعْبِيَّة (ʔuḡniyya šaʕbiyya) — song originating among the working people
  • Belarusian: наро́дная пе́сня (naródnaja pjésnja) — song originating among the working people
  • Bulgarian: наро́дна пе́сен (naródna pésen) — song originating among the working people
  • Chinese Cantonese: 民歌 — song originating among the working people
  • Chinese Mandarin: 民歌 (míngē) — song originating among the working people
  • Chinese Mandarin: 民謠 /民谣 (mínyáo) — song originating among the working people
  • Chinese Mandarin: 歌謠 /歌谣 (gēyáo) — song originating among the working people
  • Cornish: kan werin — song originating among the working people
  • Czech: lidová píseň — song originating among the working people
  • Estonian: rahvalaul — song originating among the working people
  • Finnish: kansanlaulu — song originating among the working people
  • French: chanson populaire — song originating among the working people
  • Galician: canción popular — song originating among the working people
  • Galician: cántiga — song originating among the working people
  • Georgian: ხალხური სიმღერა (xalxuri simɣera) — song originating among the working people
  • German: Volkslied — song originating among the working people
  • Gujarati: લોકગીત (lokgīt) — song originating among the working people
  • Hindi: लोकगीत (lokgīt) — song originating among the working people
  • Hungarian: népdal — song originating among the working people
  • Italian: canto popolare — song originating among the working people
  • Japanese: 民謡 (min'yō) — song originating among the working people
  • Japanese: フォークソング (fōkusongu) — song originating among the working people
  • Japanese: 歌謡 (kayō) — song originating among the working people
  • Korean: 민요 (minyo) — song originating among the working people
  • Korean: 포크송 (pokeusong) — song originating among the working people
  • Korean: 가요 (gayo) — song originating among the working people
  • Latvian: tautas dziesma — song originating among the working people
  • Macedonian: народна песна (narodna pesna) — song originating among the working people
  • Polish: piosenka ludowa — song originating among the working people
  • Russian: наро́дная пе́сня (naródnaja pésnja) — song originating among the working people
  • Slovak: ľudová pieseň — song originating among the working people
  • Slovene: ljudska pesem — song originating among the working people
  • Spanish: canción popular — song originating among the working people
  • Swedish: folksång — song originating among the working people
  • Swedish: folkvisa — song originating among the working people
  • Turkish: türkü — song originating among the working people
  • Turkish: halk şarkısı — song originating among the working people
  • Ottoman Turkish: تركی (türkü) — song originating among the working people
  • Ukrainian: наро́дна пі́сня (naródna písnja) — song originating among the working people
  • Vietnamese: dân ca — song originating among the working people
  • Chinese Mandarin: 民歌 (míngē) — song in this style
  • Finnish: folk-kappale — song in this style
  • German: Folksong — song in this style
  • Karakalpak: halıq qosıg'ı — song in this style
  • Polish: piosenka ludowa — song in this style
  • Russian: наро́дная пе́сня (naródnaja pésnja) — song in this style
  • Swedish: folksång — song in this style
  • Vietnamese: dân ca — song in this style