storytellern.
/ˈstɔːrɪˌtɛlə/, U.S. /ˈstɔriˌtɛlər/ 1.
a. A person who recites stories or a particular story.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > [noun] > narrator or story-teller > of particular story
storyteller1657
1657 J. Davies tr. H. D'Urfé Astrea I. 371 Truly..you are an excellent story-teller [Fr. tu racontes à merveille].
1851 D. Jerrold St. Giles & St. James (new ed.) xiv, in Writings I. 138 Again was he pressed to rehearse the tale, whilst mugs of ale rewarded the story-teller.
1883 M. B. Betham-Edwards Disarmed I. iii. 42 The story-teller suddenly broke down, as if thrilled and set a-tremble with the potency of his own words.
1911 J. R. Swanton Indian Tribes Lower Mississippi 323 The storyteller added that there were other parts of the myth, which he had forgotten.
1953 W. W. Beatty Educ. for Cultural Change 202/1 Stories are interesting to children and each teacher needs to be a good storyteller and a good oral reader.
1992 Independent 21 Feb. 25/3 Her [sc. Angela Carter's] voice was soft, with a storyteller's confidingness.
b. A professional reciter of stories, esp. myths, legends, and romances.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > legend or folk tale > [noun] > writer or teller of legends
legendary1600
legender1602
legendist1616
storyteller1697
1697 B. Kennett Lives & Characters Anc. Grecian Poets i. 161 He reflects on the Folly of the Ancient Story-tellers.
1777 J. Richardson Diss. Eastern Nations 57 Professed story-tellers..are of early date in the East.
1794 P. Russell A. Russell's Nat. Hist. Aleppo (ed. 2) I. ii. 149 The story teller..recites walking to and fro, in the middle of the coffee room.
1813 Ld. Byron Giaour 41 The coffee-house story-tellers who abound in the Levant, and sing or recite their narratives.
1841 W. Spalding Italy & Ital. Islands III. 266 A profession peculiar to Italy and the East,—that of the Story-tellers.
1908 Hibbert Jrnl. Oct. 27 I have paid special attention to public story-tellers.
1967 T. Wilder Eighth Day v. 384 Maybe I'll be a detective or a wandering storyteller or a jail breaker.
2005 Independent 26 Sept. 5/2 Snake charmers, monkey-keepers, acrobats and story-tellers vie with healers and fakirs for a space in the market square.
c. A person who tells stories through a particular medium such as prose, illustration, or film.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > [noun] > narrator or story-teller > story-writer
storyteller1727
story writer1747
1727 J. Lewis Hist. & Antiq. Abbey & Church of Favresham ii. v. 67 On which, the story-teller informs us, a great part of the People cried out.
1814 W. Scott Waverley III. xvii. 264 These circumstances will serve to explain such points of our narrative as, according to the custom of story-tellers, we deemed it fit to leave unexplained, for the purpose of exciting the reader's curiosity. View more context for this quotation
1879 Social Notes 4 114/1 Hogarth was a story-teller in the strictest sense of the term; his series of pictures corresponded closely to the novelist's chapters.
1938 A. Olsson in A. B. Benson & N. Hedin Swedes in Amer. 217 Miss Runbeck is a captivating storyteller who keeps her readers in constant, breathless suspense all through her numerous short stories.
1992 Washington Post 30 July c7/1 Spielberg is one of the greatest visual storytellers in movie history; the camera is his ‘once upon a time’ device.
2000 Observer 17 Sept. (Life section) 24/4 It shows the writer at his most heartfelt and thoughtful—while still firing on all cylinders as a storyteller.
2. A teller of anecdotes in conversation; a raconteur.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > anecdote > [noun] > writer or teller of anecdotes
storyteller1683
anecdotist?1760
raconteur1831
raconteuse1840
anecdotalist1868
personalist1876
anecdotard1880
magsman1924
1683 F. Spence tr. M. de Scudéry Conversat. Several Subj. I. 12 Sometimes those eternal story-tellers, are very much to be dreaded.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 132. ⁋10 There is nothing more ridiculous than an old trifling Story-Teller.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 247. ¶8 As for News-mongers, Politicians, Mimicks, Story-Tellers,..they are as commonly found among the Men as the Women.
a1763 W. King Polit. & Lit. Anecd. (1819) 72 A story teller is the most agreeable or the most disagreeable character we can meet with.
1862 Fraser's Mag. July 46 He was also a bon-vivant, a diner-out, and a story-teller.
1948 Billboard 6 Mar. 7/1 The press agents had to be good drinkers and marvellous story-tellers.
1982 E. Simpson Poets in their Youth vi. 121 As a storyteller she was..masterly at pacing and timing.
2008 K. J. Hayes Road to Monticello iii. xxi. 301 An accomplished storyteller, Marmontel made a delightful dinner companion.
3. colloquial. A liar.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > [noun] > a liar > petty
storyteller1696
fibber1723
storier1835
story1847
fibster1848
fib1861
taradiddler1880
1696 T. Brown tr. J. Le Clerc 12 Diss. Genesis x. 259 This excellent Man was impos'd upon by some monstrous Story-teller, and perhaps too greedily swallowed what he heard.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa III. v. 46 Wicked story-teller!
1770 J. Wesley Jrnl. 21 Mar. (1870) III. 373 ‘But,’ says he [sc. a boy of nine], ‘you quarrel with God's word;..So you make God a story-teller.’
1796 F. Burney Camilla II. iii. iii. 63 He is a very learned gentleman, and no more a story-teller than I am myself.
1814 Sporting Mag. 43 371 I always believed you to be one of the greatest story tellers in England, but I find you have spoke the truth to day.
1825 T. Hook Sayings & Doings 2nd Ser. I. 196 Oh, you story-teller, Tom!
1862 Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Halliburton's Troubles II. iii. 27 What an old story-teller she must be.
1944 Motor Boating June 35/1 ‘You old story teller,’ Fred drawled. ‘There's not a bass within two miles of this bridge!’
1996 A. R. Badami Tamarind Woman 25 Mrs. Simoes..pulled my cheek and said, ‘What a little story-teller you are!’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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