Folklore Meaning
/ˈfəʊk.lɔː/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe tales, legends, superstitions, and traditions of a particular ethnic population.
nounThe tales, superstitions etc. of any particular group or community.
Sentence Examples
Island folklore still recounts the story of the raft.
He compiled a Japanese folklore anthology for use in schools.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Many cultures have rich ____, sharing ancient myths and traditional stories.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Many of the region's myths and ____ center around the mysterious spirits of the deep forest.
Word Origin & History
From folk + lore, coined by British writer 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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[T]here is no true American music but the wild sweet melodies of the Negro slave; the American fairy tales and folk-lore are Indian and African; and, all in all, we black men seem the sole oasis of simple faith and reverence in a dusty desert of dollars and smartness."
— 1903 April 18, W[illiam] E[dward] Burghardt Du Bois, “Of Our Spiritual Strivings”, in The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., →OCLC, pages 11–12:
"Why has not England a great mythology? Our folklore has never advanced beyond daintiness, and the greater melodies about our country-side have all issued through the pipes of Greece."
— 1908–1910 (date written; published 1910 October 18), E[dward] M[organ] Forster, chapter 33, in Howards End, London: Edward Arnold, →OCLC:
"“Lisieux is a little town in Normandy,” she said. “I was there a few days with your father, one summer, long ago. It’s a country full of old stories, folklore, and traditions; and the people still believe in the Old Scratch pretty literally. […]”"
— 1913, Booth Tarkington, The Flirt, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC:
"Crossing the ridge she stood at last upon the brink of Kor-ul-GRYF—the horror place of the folklore of her race."
— 1921, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 5, in Tarzan the Terrible, A. C. McClurg:
"A selection of longer items of hacker folklore and humor is included in Appendix A, Hacker Folklore."
— 1996, Eric S. Raymond, The New Hacker's Dictionary, 3rd edition, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 3:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Many cultures have rich ____, sharing ancient myths and traditional stories.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Many of the region's myths and ____ center around the mysterious spirits of the deep forest.