a story, usually of anonymous authorship and containing legendary elements, made and handed down orally among the common people
folk tale in American English
noun
1.
a tale or legend originating and traditional among a people or folk, esp. one forming part of the oral tradition of the common people
2.
any belief or story passed on traditionally, esp. one considered to be false or basedon superstition
Also: folktale. Also called: folk story
Word origin
[1890–95]This word is first recorded in the period 1890–95. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: honky-tonk, phoneme, plein-air, takedown, wireless
Examples of 'folk tale' in a sentence
folk tale
It's a linear, folk-tale-simple narrative and was always going to have trouble surprising us.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The worldview of the folk-tale, by contrast, is that of universalism.
The Times Literary Supplement (2010)
Farming defines the landscape, then flows into the folk-tale villages.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Nor do they bridge his neorealist grit and broad folk-tale plotting.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Alter's translation brings out both the folk-tale quality of this story and its stylistic richness.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
This is a folk-tale allegory of the passing of the seasons and man's sometime fascination with supernatural beings.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
Folk tales abound of them invading homes and throwing wild parties.