Menfolk is an informal, old-fashioned word for the men and boys in a family or group. You might hear someone say “the menfolk” when talking about the male members of a household or community, usually in contrast to “the womenfolk.”

The word comes from older times when families and communities often divided tasks and activities by gender. Someone might have said “the menfolk are working in the fields” or “the menfolk went hunting.” You still sometimes hear it in historical novels, folk tales, or when people are speaking playfully or nostalgically about family gatherings.

Today, menfolk sounds deliberately quaint or humorous. A grandfather might joke about “us menfolk” handling the grilling at a family barbecue, or an author writing a historical novel might use it to capture how people spoke in earlier times. The word carries a warm, folksy feeling, like something from a simpler era, though in modern life we recognize that people of any gender can do any task or activity.