polka

See also: Polka, polką, Polką, Poľka, Pólka, półka, półką, and полька

English

Etymology

Via French and German from Czech polka, variant of půlka (“half”) as in "half-step"; see půl (“half”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒl.kə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpoʊ(l)kə/, but /ˈpoʊkə/ in polka dot
• Rhymes: -ɒlkə, -əʊkə

Noun

polka (plural polkas)

1. A lively dance originating in Bohemia.
2. The music for this dance.
3. A polka jacket.

Derived terms

• horizontal polka
• polkabilly
• polka dot
• polka-like
• polka-mazurka
• polkist

 

Translations

dance

• Armenian: պոլկա (hy) (polka)
• Asturian: polca f
• Bulgarian: по́лка (bg) f (pólka)
• Catalan: polca (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 波爾卡／波尔卡 (zh) (bō'ěrkǎ)

• Czech: polka (cs) f
• Danish: polka c
• Dutch: polka (nl) f
• Finnish: polkka (fi)
• French: polka (fr) f
• Galician: polca f
• German: Polka (de) f
• Italian: polka (it) f
• Japanese: ポルカ (ja) (poruka)
• Korean: 폴카 (polka)
• Marathi: पोल्का m (polkā)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: polka m

  Nynorsk: polka m

• Polish: polka (pl) f
• Portuguese: polca (pt) f
• Romanian: polcă (ro) f
• Russian: по́лька (ru) f (pólʹka)
• Spanish: polca (es) f
• Swedish: polka (sv) c, polkett c
• Tagalog: polka

music for this dance

• Armenian: պոլկա (hy) (polka)
• Asturian: polca f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 波爾卡音樂／波尔卡音乐 (bō'ěrkǎ yīnyuè)

• Finnish: polkka (fi)
• Galician: polca f
• Marathi: पोल्का n (polkā)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: polka m

  Nynorsk: polka m

• Polish: polka (pl) f
• Portuguese: polca (pt) f
• Romanian: polcă (ro) f
• Spanish: polca (es) f
• Swedish: polka (sv) c, polkett c

Verb

polka (third-person singular simple present polkas, present participle polkaing, simple past and past participle polkaed)

1. (intransitive) To dance the polka.

Anagrams

• Palko, lo pak, pakol, pokal

Czech

Etymology

Variant of půlka (“half”) as in "half-step"; see půl (“half”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpolka]

Noun

polka f

1. polka

Declension

Declension of polka (hard feminine reducible)

	singular	plural
nominative	polka	polky
genitive	polky	polek
dative	polce	polkám
accusative	polku	polky
vocative	polko	polky
locative	polce	polkách
instrumental	polkou	polkami

Further reading

• “polka”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “polka”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “polka”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech)

Danish

Etymology

From Czech polka.

Noun

polka c (singular definite polkaen, plural indefinite polkaer)

1. polka

Inflection

Declension of polka

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	polka	polkaen	polkaer	polkaerne
genitive	polkas	polkaens	polkaers	polkaernes

Further reading

• “polka” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Etymology

From Czech polka.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɔl.ka/

Noun

polka f (plural polkas)

1. polka (dance and music)

Derived terms

• polkiste

Descendants

• → Ottoman Turkish: پولقه (polka)
  • Turkish: polka

Further reading

• “polka”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Norman

Etymology

From French and Czech polka.

Noun

polka f (plural polkas)

1. (Jersey) polka (dance, music)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Via German Polka or French polka from Czech polka and půlka

Noun

polka m (definite singular polkaen, indefinite plural polkaer, definite plural polkaene)

1. polka (dance and music)

References

• “polka” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “polka” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Via German Polka or French polka from Czech polka and půlka

Noun

polka m (definite singular polkaen, indefinite plural polkaer or polkaar, definite plural polkaene or polkaane)

1. polka (dance and music)

References

• “polka” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Occitan

Etymology

From French polka.

Noun

polka f (plural polkas)

1. polka (dance)

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from Czech polka. Doublet of półka.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɔl.ka/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔlka
• Syllabification: pol‧ka
• Homophone: Polka

Noun

polka f (diminutive poleczka)

1. polka (dance)
2. polka (music for this dance)

Declension

Declension of polka

	singular	plural
nominative	polka	polki
genitive	polki	polek
dative	polce	polkom
accusative	polkę	polki
instrumental	polką	polkami
locative	polce	polkach
vocative	polko	polki

Further reading

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

Spanish

Etymology

See polca.

Noun

polka f (plural polkas)

1. polka

Further reading

• “polka”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from German Polka. First attested in 1844.

Noun

polka c

1. polka (dance)

   att dansa polka

   to polka ["to dance type of dance" is idiomatic in Swedish]

2. polka (music for dancing the polka)

Declension

Declension of polka

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	polka	polkas
	definite	polkan	polkans
plural	indefinite	polkor	polkors
	definite	polkorna	polkornas

See also

• gammeldans
• polska

References

• polka in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• polka in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• polka in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)