*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of Polk

* As a Scottish surname, shortened from Pollock. * As a Upper Sorbian surname Półk, Pólk, probably shortened from a personal name based on Proto-Slavic *plъkъ (“army, crowd”), see Polka. * As an East German surname of Sl

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
name

A surname. · An unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois. · An unincorporated community in Polk County, Missouri, named after the county. · A village in Polk County, Nebraska.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

* As a Scottish surname, shortened from Pollock. * As a Upper Sorbian surname Półk, Pólk, probably shortened from a personal name based on Proto-Slavic *plъkъ (“army, crowd”), see Polka. * As an East German surname of Slavic origin, variant of Polke, itself from a Silesian form of Polish Bolesław.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 5 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hsb",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Upper Sorbian"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sla-pro",
        "3": "*pъlkъ",
        "4": "*plъkъ",
        "t": "army, crowd"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Slavic *plъkъ (“army, crowd”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sla",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Slavic"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "szl",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Silesian"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "pl",
        "3": "Bolesław"
      },
      "expansion": "Polish Bolesław"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "Pollock",
      "Pollock#English"
    ],
    [
      "Półk",
      "Półk#Upper_Sorbian"
    ],
    [
      "Pólk",
      "Pólk#Upper_Sorbian"
    ],
    [
      "*plъkъ",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/pъlkъ"
    ],
    [
      "Polka",
      "Polka#English"
    ],
    [
      "Polke",
      "Polke#English"
    ],
    [
      "Bolesław",
      "Bolesław#Polish"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "A surname.",
        "An unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois.",
        "An unincorporated community in Polk County, Missouri, named after the county.",
        "A village in Polk County, Nebraska."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "recordId": "ed41fe4a61d3f79c103d546da76756a3848a5f32e53b9c67613881f9b72cb338",
      "rawRecordSha256": "2e98796711339e1690610144621b8ed9bc6b403dc0ad08d105e204bcb6763137",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 4333260
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 5,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for Polk →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-UG9saw