folklore
Americannoun
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the traditional beliefs, legends, customs, etc., of a people; lore of a people.
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the study of such lore.
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a body of widely held but false or unsubstantiated beliefs.
noun
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the unwritten literature of a people as expressed in folk tales, proverbs, riddles, songs, etc
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the body of stories and legends attached to a particular place, group, activity, etc
Hollywood folklore
rugby folklore
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the anthropological discipline concerned with the study of folkloric materials
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of folklore
1846; folk + lore 1; coined by English scholar and antiquary William John Thoms (1803–85)
Explanation
Stories, customs, and beliefs that are passed from one generation to the next are called folklore. According to folklore, you shouldn't take rocks from the volcanoes in Hawaii because Pele, the volcano goddess, will be angry and curse you. Folklore is a combination of the words folk and lore which dates from 1846. The former refers to a community of people, and the latter comes from the Old English lar, meaning learning or knowledge. Folk, in this sense, is also used in terms like folk music, folk dance, and folktale. Although traditionally folklore is passed along by word of mouth, in the modern era much folklore is being collected on the Internet.
Vocabulary lists containing folklore
Literary Genres - Introductory
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Reading: Literature - Literary Genres - Introductory
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Literary Genres - Advanced
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Historian Ashok Mathur says Madari traditions have roots in Indian folklore, mythology and the long history of travelling performers.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Much like the myth of automatically getting straight A’s if your college roommate dies, there is folklore around military pilots who eject from jets and live to tell.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
A hefty pair of bestselling fantasy novels, 2019’s “Black Leopard, Red Wolf” and 2022’s “Moon Witch, Spider King,” reframed sword-and-sorcery themes around African folklore.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
And when official information leaves a blank space, folklore is very happy to fill it.
From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026
Popular folklore suggested that such an abundance of pigeons always brought with it unhealthy air and sickness.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
