folk tale

or folk·tale

[ fohk teyl ]

noun

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

folk tale

noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of folk tale¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

By the time Cooper first hears Britton’s story as a Harvard undergrad in the early 2010s, she writes, it has become almost a folk tale about how powerful institutions protect powerful men who do horrible things.

From Vox

A guide, using myths and folk tales, to help women reconnect with their instinctual nature.

From Washington Post

The folk tale “Hansel and Gretel” originated in these years.

From The Daily Beast

But it is clear that there might also be three distinct encounters on as many separate days, as in the folk-tale.

From Project Gutenberg

I do not think that Lancelot was ab origine the hero of a variant of this popular and widely-spread folk-tale.

From Project Gutenberg

The hero of an Egyptian folk tale slays a "deathless snake" by cutting it in two parts and putting sand between the parts.

From Project Gutenberg

A modern folk-tale from Cashmere tells of a Brahmin who prayed to know something of the state of the departed.

From Project Gutenberg

Or are all you Mentorians so gutless that you believe any half-baked folk tale the Lhari pass off on you?

From Project Gutenberg