folk song

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noun

a song originating among the people of a country or area, passed by oral tradition from one singer or generation to the next, often existing in several versions, and marked generally by simple, modal melody and stanzaic, narrative verse.

a song of similar character written by a known composer.

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Origin of folk song

First recorded in 1865–70

Words nearby folk song

folk rock, folk-sing, folk singer, folk singing, folk society, folk song, folksonomy, folksy, folk tale, folktronica, folkways

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use folk song in a sentence

Dobkin studied painting at Temple University, where she also started performing folk songs, and received a bachelor’s degree in 1962.
Alix Dobkin, who celebrated lesbian life in music, dies at 80|Harrison Smith|May 21, 2021|Washington Post
So here I am in my requisite Lululemon pants, grunting along to an old hip-hop song at a most ungodly hour.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I still do find it a tremendously useful device to invent a character and have the character sing the song.
Belle & Sebastian Aren’t So Shy Anymore|James Joiner|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In 2012, as a 10th grader, Lean says he recorded his first legitimate song, “Hurt.”
The Cult of Yung Lean: ‘I’m Building An Anarchistic Society From the Ground Up’|Marlow Stern|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST

So we picked out the song (“Rhiannon,” click here for video), and Deer Tick learned it.
Deer Tick's John McCauley on Ten Years in Rock and Roll|James Joiner|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
So this is Christmas, as the song goes, and what have we done?
No Gods, No Cops, No Masters|James Poulos|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
There are some folk in this country, you know, who manifest a very retiring disposition at times.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
It was no wonder that he felt quite at home in the duck-pond, which was made for web-footed folk.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole|Arthur Scott Bailey
At this moment the tinkling of a mule's bells, mingled with the song of the muleteer, came on the air.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 372, October 1846|Various
Gushing waters thrilled the ears with the sweetness of an old familiar song.
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne
The song stopped abruptly, the music died away, there was an interval of silence no one broke.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood

British Dictionary definitions for folk song

folk song

noun

a song of which the music and text have been handed down by oral tradition among the common people

a modern song which employs or reflects the folk idiom

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

folk song

Origin of folk song

Words nearby folk song

Words related to folk song

How to use folk song in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for folk song