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folklore (n.)[folklore 词源字典]: "traditional beliefs and customs of the common people," 1846, coined by antiquarian William J. Thoms (1803-1885) as an Anglo-Saxonism (replacing popular antiquities) in imitation of German compounds in Volk- and first published in the "Athenaeum" of Aug. 22, 1846; see folk + lore. Old English folclar meant "homily."

This word revived folk in a modern sense of "of the common people, whose culture is handed down orally," and opened up a flood of compound formations: Folk art (1892), folk-hero (1874), folk-medicine (1877), folk-tale (1850; Old English folctalu meant "genealogy"), folk-song (1847, "a song of the people," translating German Volkslied), folk-singer (1876), folk-dance (1877).[folklore etymology, folklore origin, 英语词源]
folkloric (adj.): 1883, from folklore + -ic.
folklorist (n.): also folk-lorist, "one engaged in the study of folklore," 1881, from folklore + -ist.
folks (n.): "persons," Middle English, plural of folk (n.). Colloquial sense of "people of one's family" is from 1715. In Old English in plural use it meant only "peoples, nations."
folksy (adj.): "sociable, unpretentious," 1852, U.S. colloquial, from folks + -y (2). Related: Folksiness.
folkways (n.): coined 1906 in a book of the same name by U.S. sociologist William Graham Sumner (1840-1910); see folk (n.) + way (n.).
Folkways are habits of the individual and customs of the society which arise from efforts to satisfy needs. ... Then they become regulative for succeeding generations and take on the character of a social force. [Sumner, "Folkways"]
Sumner also often is credited with ethnocentrism, which is found in the same book but is older.
folky (adj.): "characteristic of the common people," 1914, from folk + -y (2). Old English had folcisc "popular, secular, common."
follicle (n.): early 15c., in anatomy, "small sack," from Latin folliculus "a little bag," diminutive of follis "bellows, inflated ball, money-bag," from PIE *bhol-n-, suffixed form of root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell" (see bole). Related: Follicular.
follies (n.): "glamorous theatrical revue with lots of pretty girls," 1880, from French folies (mid-19c.), from folie (see folly), probably in its sense of "extravagance" (compare extravaganza).
follow (v.): Middle English folwen, from Old English folgian, fylgian, fylgan "to accompany (especially as a disciple), move in the same direction as; follow after, pursue, move behind in the same direction," also "obey (a rule or law), conform to, act in accordance with; apply oneself to (a practice, trade, or calling)," from Proto-Germanic *fulg- (cognates: Old Saxon folgon, Old Frisian folgia, Middle Dutch volghen, Dutch volgen, Old High German folgen, German folgen, Old Norse fylgja "to follow"). Probably originally a compound, *full-gan, with a sense of "full-going," the sense then shifting to "serve, go with as an attendant" (compare fulfill). Related: Followed; following.

Sense of "accept as leader or guide, obey or be subservient to" was in late Old English. Meaning "come after in time" is from c. 1200; meaning "to result from" (as effect from cause) is from c. 1200. Meaning "to keep up with mentally, comprehend" is from 1690s. Intransitive sense "come or go behind" is from mid-13c. To follow one's nose "go straight on" first attested 1590s. "The full phrase is, 'Follow your nose, and you are sure to go straight.' " [Farmer]. The children's game follow my leader is attested by that name from 1812 (as follow the leader by 1896).
follow-through (n.): 1896, of golf swings, from verbal phrase follow through; see follow (v.) + through (adv.). Figurative use from 1926.
follow-up (n.): 1905, originally in the argot of sales and business, from verbal phrase follow up "pursue closely, act on energetically" (1794); see follow (v.) + up (adv.).
follower (n.): Old English folgere "retainer, servant, disciple; successor," agent noun from follow. Compare similarly formed Old Frisian folgere, Dutch volger, German Folger. Related: Followers.
following (n.): late 14c., "action of following, an act of following," verbal noun from follow (v.). Meaning "a body of disciples or retainers" is from mid-15c.; Old English used folgoð in this sense.
folly (n.): early 13c., "mental weakness; foolish behavior or character; unwise conduct" (in Middle English including wickedness, lewdness, madness), from Old French folie "folly, madness, stupidity" (12c.), from fol (see fool (n.)). From c. 1300 as "an example of foolishness;" sense of "costly structure considered to have shown folly in the builder" is attested from 1650s. But used much earlier, since Middle English, in place names, especially country estates, probably as a form of Old French folie in its meaning "delight." Related: Follies.
Fomalhaut: bright star in the constellation Piscis Austrinus, 1594, from Arabic Fum al Hut "the Fish's Mouth," which describes its position in the imaginary star-picture.
foment (v.): early 15c., "apply hot liquids," from Old French fomenter "apply hot compress (to a wound)" (13c.), from Late Latin fomentare, from Latin fomentum "warm application, poultice," contraction of *fovimentum, from fovere "to warm; cherish, encourage" (see fever). Extended sense of "stimulate, instigate" (1620s), on the notion of "encourage the growth of," as if by heat, probably was taken from French. Related: Fomented; fomenting.
fomentation (n.): c. 1400, from Late Latin fomentationem (nominative fomentatio), noun of action from past participle stem of fomentare "to foment," from Latin fomentum (see foment).
Fomorian (adj.): pertaining to the monstrous race in Irish mythology, 1876, from Irish fomor "pirate, monster," from fo "under" + mor "sea." Cognate with Gaelic famhair.
fond (adj.): late 14c., "deranged, insane;" also "foolish, silly, unwise," from fonned, past participle adjective from obsolete verb fon, fonne (Middle English fonnen) "be foolish, be simple," from Middle English fonne "a fool, stupid person" (early 14c.), which is of uncertain origin but perhaps from Scandinavian. Related: Fonder; fondest.

Meaning evolved via "foolishly tender" to "having strong affections for" (by 1570s). Another sense of the verb fon was "to lose savor" (late 14c. in Middle English past participle fonnyd), which may be the original meaning of the word:
Gif þe salt be fonnyd it is not worþi [Wyclif, Matt. v:13, c. 1380]