Polak

See also: polak, polák, Polák, and Pólak

English

Noun

Polak (plural Polaks)

1. Alternative spelling of Polack

Dutch

Etymology

Ultimately from Polish Polak. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /poːˈlɑk/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Po‧lak
• Rhymes: -ɑk

Proper noun

Polak

1. a surname

French

Alternative forms

• Polack, polak, polaque

Etymology

Borrowed from Polish Polak.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɔ.lak/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Polak m (plural Polaks)

1. (slang) Polack (person of Polish descent)

   Synonym: Polonais

Polish

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *pȍľe (“field”) +‎ -ak.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɔ.lak/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔlak
• Syllabification: Po‧lak
• Homophone: polak

Noun

Polak m pers (female equivalent Polka)

1. Pole

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	Polak	Polacy/Polaki (deprecative)
genitive	Polaka	Polaków
dative	Polakowi	Polakom
accusative	Polaka	Polaków
instrumental	Polakiem	Polakami
locative	Polaku	Polakach
vocative	Polaku	Polacy

Declension of Polak

Related terms

adjective

• polski

 

adverb

• polsko

 

noun

• Polska

 

Descendants

• → English: Polack
• → Danish: polak
• → Finnish: polakki
• → French: polaque
• → Italian: polacco
• → Norwegian: polakk
• → Portuguese: polaco
• → Spanish: polaco
• → Swedish: polack

Proper noun

Polak m pers

1. a male surname

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	Polak	Polakowie
genitive	Polaka	Polaków
dative	Polakowi	Polakom
accusative	Polaka	Polaków
instrumental	Polakiem	Polakami
locative	Polaku	Polakach
vocative	Polaku	Polakowie

Declension of Polak

Proper noun

Polak f (indeclinable)

1. a female surname

Derived terms

• Polakowa
• Polakówna

 

See also

• Appendix:Polish surnames

Trivia

According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), Polak is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 13 times in scientific texts, 23 times in news, 17 times in essays, 21 times in fiction, and 15 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 89 times, making it the 714th most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.^[4]

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “Pole”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
2. Kraitsir, C. V. (1837). The Poles in the United States of America: Preceded by the Earliest History of the Slavonians, and by the History of Poland. United States: Kiderlen and Stollmeyer, p. 64
3. Kalman, B., Virágos, Z., Kálmán, B. (1978). The world of names : a study in Hungarian onomatology. Hungary: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 107
4. Ida Kurcz (1990) “Polak”, in Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej [Frequency dictionary of the Polish language] (in Polish), volume 1, Kraków, Warszawa: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Języka Polskiego, page 395

Further reading

• Polak in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• Polak in Polish dictionaries at PWN