Flock
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flock¹
- /flɒk/ UK
- /flɑk/ US
Rhymes with -ɒk
Where it comes from
Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *flukkaz
Proto-West Germanic *flokk
Old English flocc
Middle English flok
English flock
From Middle English flok, from Old English flocc (“flock, company, troop”), from Proto-West Germanic *flokk, from Proto-Germanic *flukkaz (“crowd, troop”). Cognate with German Low German Flock (“crowd, flock”), Danish flok (“flock”), Swedish flock (“flock”), Norwegian flokk (“flock”), Faroese flokkur (“flock”), Icelandic flokkur (“flock, group”). Related also to Norman fliotchet (“flock, crowd”), from Old Norse. Perhaps related to Old English folc (“crowd, troop, band”). More at folk.
noun flocks
- A large number of animals associated together in a group; commonly used of sheep, but (dated) also used for goats or other livestock animals, or sometimes any group of animals. He told his father, and said it would be just suitable work for him to run about fields and woods amongst the strawberry hills after a flock of hares, and now and then lie down and take a nap on some sunny hill.
- The group of sheep being watched by one shepherd.
- A large number of people. The heathen […] came to Nicanor by flocks.
- Those served by a particular pastor or shepherd. But lapsed into so long a pause again / As half amazed, half frighted all his flock: [...]
- A religious congregation.
Similar: bunch, gaggle, horde, host, legion, litter, nest, rabble, swarm, throng, wake
verb flocks · flocking · flocked
- To congregate in or head towards a place in large numbers. People flocked to the cinema to see the new film.
- To flock to; to crowd. Good fellows, trooping, flocked me so.
flock²
- /flɒk/ UK
- /flɑk/ US
Rhymes with -ɒk
Where it comes from
From Middle English flok (“tuft of wool”), from Old French floc (“tuft of wool”), from Late Latin floccus (“tuft of wool”), probably from Frankish *flokko (“down, wool, flock”), from Proto-Germanic *flukkōn-, *flukkan-, *fluksōn- (“down, flock”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“hair, fibres, tuft”). Cognate with Old High German flocko (“down”), Middle Dutch vlocke (“flock”), Norwegian dialectal flugsa (“snowflake”). Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian flok (“hair”).
noun flocks
- Coarse tufts of wool or cotton used in bedding.
- A lock of wool or hair. I prythee, Tom, beat Cut's saddle, put a few flocks in the point.
- Very fine sifted woollen refuse, especially that from shearing the nap of cloths, formerly used as a coating for wallpaper to give it a velvety or clothlike appearance; also, the dust of vegetable fibre used for a similar purpose. There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.
verb flocks · flocking · flocked
- To coat a surface with dense fibers or particles; especially, to create a dense arrangement of fibers with a desired nap. the sampling and elution advantages of flocked swabs versus spun swabs
- To cover a Christmas tree with artificial snow.
- To treat a pool with chemicals to remove suspended particles.
Flock³
proper noun Flocks
- A surname.
