folk tale

or folk·tale

See more synonyms for folk tale on Thesaurus.com

noun

a tale or legend originating and traditional among a people or folk, especially one forming part of the oral tradition of the common people.
any belief or story passed on traditionally, especially one considered to be false or based on superstition.

Origin of folk tale

First recorded in 1890–95

Also called folk story.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for folk tale

legend, myth, tradition

Examples from the Web for folk tale

Historical Examples of folk tale

These conditions are twice fulfilled in the history of a folk-tale.
The Science of Fairy Tales
Edwin Sidney Hartland
And for this reason also "Mary, Mary" has an inner resemblance to a folk-tale.
Mary, Mary
James Stephens
In the development of the folk-tale, we can in a general way mark three grades.
Homer's Odyssey
Denton J. Snider
It is not accidental but persistent savagery we meet with in the folk-tale.
Folklore as an Historical Science
George Laurence Gomme
It ignores it, and confines the problem to legend and folk-tale.
Folklore as an Historical Science
George Laurence Gomme

British Dictionary definitions for folk tale

folk tale

folk story

noun

a tale or legend originating among a people and typically becoming part of an oral tradition

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