Meanings
nounfolktale (plural folktales)
plural folktales · alternative folk tale
- A tale or story that is part of the oral tradition of a people or a place.
Synonyms: folk story
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA tale or story that is part of the oral tradition of a people or a place.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
nouna tale circulated by word of mouth among the common folk
Similar
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Arabic حِكَايَة خُرَافِيَّة
- حِكَايَة خُرَافِيَّة (ḥikāya ḵurāfiyya)story that is part of the oral tradition of a people
Catalan rondalla, cuento
- rondallastory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
- cuentostory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
Chinese Mandarin 民間故事 /民间故事, 民間傳說 /民间传说
- 民間故事 /民间故事 (mínjiān gùshì)story that is part of the oral tradition of a people
- 民間傳說 /民间传说 (mínjiān chuánshuō)story that is part of the oral tradition of a people
Danish folkesagn
- folkesagnstory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
Dutch volksverhaal
- volksverhaalstory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
Finnish kansantaru
- kansantarustory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
French conte, conte populaire
- contestory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
- conte populairestory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
German Volksmärchen, Märchen
- Volksmärchenstory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
- Märchenstory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
Hungarian népmese
- népmesestory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
Indonesian cerita rakyat
- cerita rakyatstory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
Japanese 民間説話, 民話
- 民間説話 (minkan setsuwa)story that is part of the oral tradition of a people
- 民話 (minwa)story that is part of the oral tradition of a people
- 昔話 (mukashibanashi)story that is part of the oral tradition of a people
Korean 동화, 민화
- 동화 (donghwa)story that is part of the oral tradition of a people
- 민화 (minhwa)story that is part of the oral tradition of a people
- 민간 설화 (min'gan seolhwa)story that is part of the oral tradition of a people
- 옛날이야기 (yennalliyagi)story that is part of the oral tradition of a people
- 옛이야기 (yenniyagi)story that is part of the oral tradition of a people
Latin fabula
- fabulastory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
Latvian pasaka, teika
- pasakastory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
- teikastory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
Polish bajka ludowa
- bajka ludowastory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
Portuguese conto popular
- conto popularstory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
Russian наро́дная ска́зка, ска́зка
- наро́дная ска́зка (naródnaja skázka)story that is part of the oral tradition of a people
- ска́зка (skázka)story that is part of the oral tradition of a people
Spanish leyenda
- leyendastory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
Swedish folksaga
- folksagastory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
Tagalog kuwentong-bayan
- kuwentong-bayanstory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
Thai นิทานชาวบ้าน, นิทานพื้นบ้าน
- นิทานชาวบ้านstory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
- นิทานพื้นบ้านstory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
Ukrainian наро́дна ка́зка
- наро́дна ка́зка (naródna kázka)story that is part of the oral tradition of a people
Vietnamese truyện dân gian
- truyện dân gianstory that is part of the oral tradition of a people
Cite this entry
APA
folktale. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/folktale
MLA
“folktale.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/folktale. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “folktale,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/folktale.
Source: folktale on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.