folklore

/ˈfoʊklɔər/

/ˈfʌʊklɔ/

Other forms: folklores

Stories, customs, and beliefs that are passed from one generation to the next are called folklore. According to folklore, you shouldn't take rocks from the volcanoes in Hawaii because Pele, the volcano goddess, will be angry and curse you.

Folklore is a combination of the words folk and lore which dates from 1846. The former refers to a community of people, and the latter comes from the Old English lar, meaning learning or knowledge. Folk, in this sense, is also used in terms like folk music, folk dance, and folktale. Although traditionally folklore is passed along by word of mouth, in the modern era much folklore is being collected on the Internet.

Definitions of folklore

1. noun

   the unwritten lore (stories and proverbs and riddles and songs) of a culture
   type of:

   lore, traditional knowledge

   knowledge gained through tradition or anecdote