flock

Meaning

1. A number of birds together in a group, such as those gathered together for the purpose of migration.
2. A large number of animals associated together in a group; commonly used of sheep, but (dated) also used for goats, farmed animals, and a wide variety of animals.
3. Those served by a particular pastor or shepherd.
4. A large number of people.
5. A religious congregation.
6. To congregate in or head towards a place in large numbers.
7. To flock to; to crowd.
8. Coarse tufts of wool or cotton used in bedding.
9. A lock of wool or hair.
10. 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.
11. To coat a surface with dense fibers or particles; especially, to create a dense arrangement of fibers with a desired nap.
12. To cover a Christmas tree with artificial snow.
13. To treat a pool with chemicals to remove suspended particles.
14. A surname.

Etymology / origin

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.

Related words

Descendant words

• flokki(Finnish) (cog)
• Flock(Low German) (cog)
• fulc(Old French) (cog)
• fflwcs(Welsh) (der)

Sources

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