definitions

folklore

[ fohk-lawr, -lohr ]
/ ˈfoʊkˌlɔr, -ˌloʊr /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR folklore ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the traditional beliefs, legends, customs, etc., of a people; lore of a people.
the study of such lore.
a body of widely held but false or unsubstantiated beliefs.

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RELATED WORDS

custom, wisdom, myth, superstition, legend, fable, mythology, tradition, ballad, mythos

Nearby words

folkething, folketing, folkie, folkish, folklife, folklore, folkloric, folklorico, folklorist, folkloristics, folkmoot

Origin of folklore

1846; folk + lore1; coined by English scholar and antiquary William John Thoms (1803–85)
Related formsfolk·lor·ist, nounfolk·lor·is·tic, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for folklore

British Dictionary definitions for folklore

folklore

/ (ˈfəʊkˌlɔː) /

noun

the unwritten literature of a people as expressed in folk tales, proverbs, riddles, songs, etc
the body of stories and legends attached to a particular place, group, activity, etcHollywood folklore; rugby folklore
the anthropological discipline concerned with the study of folkloric materials
Derived Formsfolkloric, adjectivefolklorist, noun, adjectivefolkloristic, adjective
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

Word Origin and History for folklore

folklore

n.

1846, coined by antiquarian William J. Thoms (1803-1885) as an Anglo-Saxonism (replacing popular antiquities) and first published in the "Athenaeum" of Aug. 22, 1846, from folk + lore. Old English folclar meant "homily."

This word revived folk in a modern sense of "of the common people, whose culture is handed down orally," and opened up a flood of compound formations, e.g. folk art (1892), folk-hero (1874), folk-medicine (1877), folk-tale/folk tale (1850; Old English folctalu meant "genealogy"), folk-song (1847), folk singer (1876), folk-dance (1877).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Culture definitions for folklore

folklore

Traditional stories and legends, transmitted orally (rather than in writing) from generation to generation. The stories of Paul Bunyan are examples of American folklore.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.