folktale

/ˈfoʊkteɪl/

/ˈfʌʊkteɪl/

Other forms: folktales

A folktale is an old story that's been told again and again, often for generations. If you're interested in learning more about your heritage, you might read some folktales from the country in which your great-great-grandparents grew up.

Folktales are stories in the oral tradition, or tales that people tell each other out loud, rather than stories in written form. They're closely related to many storytelling traditions, including fables, myths, and fairy tales. Every human society has its own folktales; these well-known stories, handed down between generations, are an important way of passing along knowledge, information, and history.

Definitions of folktale

1. noun

   a tale circulated by word of mouth among the common folk
   synonyms: folk tale

   examples:

   Arabian Nights' Entertainment

   a collection of folktales in Arabic dating from the 10th century

   type of:

   narration, narrative, story, tale

   a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program