folktale
noun
folk·tale ˈfōk-ˌtāl 
: a characteristically anonymous, timeless, and placeless tale circulated orally among a people
Example Sentences
West African folktales that continue to be passed from generation to generation through storytelling.
Recent Examples on the Web Bigfoot is not merely a folktale but a way of life in these areas. 
Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 6 Aug. 2022 Some believers of the centuries-old Loch Ness Monster folktale say the creature was last seen alive in the Loch Ness freshwater body of water in the Scottish Highlands. Tori B. Powell, CBS News, 13 Aug. 2022 The moral of the folktale, as Hauser sees it, is that heterosexual relationships often demand self-effacement, even self-annihilation from women. Rachel Connolly, The New Republic, 12 Aug. 2022 Joe Hayes’ adaptation of the La Llorona folktale, and John R. Erickson’s Hank the Cowdog series. Lisa Bubert, Longreads, 30 May 2017 According to the History Channel, the name Jack-o'-lantern first originated from an Irish folktale about a man named Stingy Jack who tricked the Devil over and over again. Elizabeth Berry, Woman's Day, 8 July 2022 The Night Gardener is described as a gritty neo-noir folktale centered on a young man in rural Missouri fighting to keep his family together in the wake of a tragedy. Carolyn Giardina, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Apr. 2022 The Indian folktale, with a few modern elements thrown in, was one of many stories told for the annual World Storytelling Day event. Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Mar. 2022 It’s a Vietnamese folktale about how the tiger got its stripes...from a little popular collection of stories that use the zodiac – The Asian Animal Zodiac by Ruth Q. Sun. Dodie Kazanjian, Vogue, 10 Mar. 2022 See More
Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 6 Aug. 2022 Some believers of the centuries-old Loch Ness Monster folktale say the creature was last seen alive in the Loch Ness freshwater body of water in the Scottish Highlands. Tori B. Powell, CBS News, 13 Aug. 2022 The moral of the folktale, as Hauser sees it, is that heterosexual relationships often demand self-effacement, even self-annihilation from women. Rachel Connolly, The New Republic, 12 Aug. 2022 Joe Hayes’ adaptation of the La Llorona folktale, and John R. Erickson’s Hank the Cowdog series. Lisa Bubert, Longreads, 30 May 2017 According to the History Channel, the name Jack-o'-lantern first originated from an Irish folktale about a man named Stingy Jack who tricked the Devil over and over again. Elizabeth Berry, Woman's Day, 8 July 2022 The Night Gardener is described as a gritty neo-noir folktale centered on a young man in rural Missouri fighting to keep his family together in the wake of a tragedy. Carolyn Giardina, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Apr. 2022 The Indian folktale, with a few modern elements thrown in, was one of many stories told for the annual World Storytelling Day event. Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Mar. 2022 It’s a Vietnamese folktale about how the tiger got its stripes...from a little popular collection of stories that use the zodiac – The Asian Animal Zodiac by Ruth Q. Sun. Dodie Kazanjian, Vogue, 10 Mar. 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
1850, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
folktale
noun
folk·tale ˈfōk-ˌtāl
: a story made up and handed down by the common people
folktale
noun
as in tale
a traditional description of imaginary events circulated orally among a people West African folktales that continue to be passed from generation to generation through storytelling Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- tale
- legend
- story
- myth
- romance
- narrative
- history
- fable
- yarn
- parable
- novella
- record
- fairy tale
- short story
- novelette
- annals
- anecdote
- bedtime story
- joke
- exemplum
- chronicle
- report
- account