folklore
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folklore
- /ˈfəʊk.lɔː/ UK
- /ˈfoʊk.lɔːɹ/ US
Where it comes from
From folk + lore, coined by British writer William Thoms in 1846 to replace terms such as "popular antiquities". Thoms imitated German terms such as Volklehre (“people's customs”) and Volksüberlieferung (“popular tradition”). Compare also Old English folclar (“popular instruction; homily”) and West Frisian folkloare (“folklore”).
noun folklores · folk-lore
- The tales, legends, superstitions, and traditions of a particular ethnic population. [T]here is no true American music but the wild sweet melodies of the Negro slave; the American fairy tales and folk-lore are Indian and African; and, all in all, we black men seem the sole oasis of simple faith and reverence in a dusty desert of dollars and smartness.
- The tales, superstitions etc. of any particular group or community. A selection of longer items of hacker folklore and humor is included in Appendix A, Hacker Folklore.
- The collective of proofs or techniques which are widely known among mathematicians, but have never been formally published.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: folklife, folk, tradition, legend, lore, eof, genetic, expressions, folktales, mythology, mythos, legends, customs, folkways, storytelling, tales
Translations
Every language
noun tales, legends and superstitions of a particular ethnic population
| Español | folclore, folclor, demosofía, folklore, folklor |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 민속 minsok, 민화 minhwa |
| 日本語 | 民俗 minzoku, 伝承 denshō, 民話 minwa |
| 中文 | 民俗 mínsú |
| हिन्दी | लोकसाहित्य loksāhitya |
| Kiswahili | hadithi za kale |
| Português | folclore |
| Français | folklore |
| Deutsch | Volkstradition, Volksüberlieferung, Volkskunde, Folklore |
| Italiano | folclore |
| Ελληνικά | λαογραφία laografía, λαϊκή παράδοση laïkí parádosi |
| Română | folclor |
| Русский | фолькло́р folʹklór |
| Tiếng Việt | văn học dân gian |
| العربية | فُولْكْلُور folklōr, فُولْكُلُور folkolōr, فُلْكْلُور folklōr, فُلْكُلُور folkolōr |
| עברית | פוֹלְקְלוֹר folklór |
Talk about this word "folklore." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/folklore. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. folklore. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/folklore "folklore." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/folklore.Cite this
@misc{folklore_2026,
title = {folklore},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/folklore},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
