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folk song

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noun
  1. 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.
  2. a song of similar character written by a known composer.
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Origin of folk song

First recorded in 1865–70
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for folk song

Historical Examples

  • In some respects the folk-song of Devonshire is rather disappointing.

    A Book of the West. Volume I Devon

    S. Baring-Gould

  • The origin of folk-song has been much debated, and it need not be gone into now.

  • A moment afterward the roar of a folk-song came up in a gust.

    Red Fleece

    Will Levington Comfort

  • The negro has no literature save that of his folk-song and story.

  • The new songs are then learned and begin their history as folk-song.

British Dictionary definitions for folk song

folk song

noun
  1. a song of which the music and text have been handed down by oral tradition among the common people
  2. a modern song which employs or reflects the folk idiom
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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