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folklore

UK/ˈfəʊk.lɔː/US/ˈfoʊk.lɔːɹ/
nounB2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #8,774 of 15,258mostly written

Other forms: folklores

Folklore is the old stories, songs, and beliefs a people hands down. Local folklore, according to folklore, collect the folklore.

It travels by mouth rather than by print, which is why versions differ and why collectors changed what they wrote down. The word was coined in 1846 by William Thoms to replace the clumsy phrase popular antiquities, and it is one of the few coinages that took at once.

Arthur Rackham · Public domain

Definitions of folklore

  1. 1nounfolkloreThe old stories, songs and beliefs handed down among a people.B2+

    “In local folklore, a giant is said to sleep beneath the hill.”

folklore is a tradition.

Where it comes from

Folk plus lore, coined by William Thoms in 1846 to replace the phrase popular antiquities, after German models.

Built from

  • Volklehre · German — people's customs
  • Volksüberlieferung · German — popular tradition

From folk + lore. From folk + lore, coined by William Thoms in 1846 to replace terms such as "popular antiquities". Thoms imitated German terms such as Volklehre (“people's customs”) and Volksüberlieferung (“popular tradition”). Compare also Old English folclar (“popular instruction; homily”) and West Frisian folkloare (“folklore”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Music, Art & Culture

Practise this word

folklore in the wild

  • Each one of these, either singly or in combination, is considered a folklore artifact or traditional cultural expression.

    Folklore

  • A succubus (pl. succubi) is a female demon who was described in various European folklore as appearing in the dreams of male humans in order to seduce them.

    Succubus

  • A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology.

    Troll

  • The following is a list of lists of legendary creatures, beings and entities from the folklore record.

    Lists of legendary creatures

  • European folklore or Western folklore refers to the folklore of the Western world, especially when discussed comparatively.

    European folklore

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.