Meanings
nounfabliau (plural fabliaux)
plural fabliaux
- A short, farcical, often bawdy tale of a genre written in the North of France in the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries.
‘I’m planning a sort of fabliau comparing this place with a fascist state,’ said Sampson, ‘sort of Animal Farm meets Arturo Ui . . .’
1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 19
Origin
- Old Frenchfabliau
- Englishfabliau
Learned borrowing from Old French fabliau, diminutive of fable.
More words from Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian фаблио́
- фаблио́ (fablió)short farcical tale
Catalan fabliau
- fabliaushort farcical tale
Czech fabliau
- fabliaushort farcical tale
Dutch fabliau
- fabliaushort farcical tale
French fabliau
- fabliaushort farcical tale
German Fabliau
- Fabliaushort farcical tale
Italian fabliau
- fabliaushort farcical tale
Polish fabliau
- fabliaushort farcical tale
Portuguese fabliau
- fabliaushort farcical tale
Russian фаблио́
- фаблио́ (fablió)short farcical tale
Swedish fabliau
- fabliaushort farcical tale
Cite this entry
APA
fabliau. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fabliau
MLA
“fabliau.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fabliau. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fabliau,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fabliau.
Source: fabliau on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.