A style of music derived from 1960s soul music, with elements of rock and other styles, characterized by a prominent bass guitar, dance-friendly sound, a strong emphasis on the downbeat, and much syncopation.
1620, from French dialectal (Norman) funquer, funquier, from Old Northern French fungier, from Vulgar Latin fūmicāre, alteration of Latin fumigo ("to smoke, fumigate"). Related to French dialect funkière. More at fumigate.
From Middle English funke, fonke, from Old English *funca, *fanca, from Proto-Germanic *funkô, *fankô, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peng-, *(s)pheng-. Cognate with Middle Low German funke, fanke, Middle Dutch vonke ("spark"), Old High German funcho, funko, German Funke ("spark"). More at spunk.
1743, Scottish and Northern English dialectal word, originally a verb meaning "to panic, fail due to panic". Perhaps from or cognate with obsolete Dutch fonck ("distress, agitation"), from Middle Dutch fonck ("perturbation, agitation"). More at flunk.
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