Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web

folkloristic

 - 4 dictionary results

folk⋅lore

[fohk-lawr, -lohr]
–noun
1. the traditional beliefs, legends, customs, etc., of a people; lore of a people.
2. the study of such lore.
3. a body of widely held but false or unsubstantiated beliefs.

Origin:
1846; folk + lore; coined by English scholar and antiquary William John Thoms (1803–85)


folklorist, noun
folk⋅lor⋅is⋅tic, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To folkloristic
folk·lore   (fōk'lôr', -lōr')   
n.  
  1. The traditional beliefs, myths, tales, and practices of a people, transmitted orally.

  2. The comparative study of folk knowledge and culture. Also called folkloristics.

    1. A body of widely accepted but usually specious notions about a place, a group, or an institution: Rumors of their antics became part of the folklore of Hollywood.

    2. A popular but unfounded belief.

folk'lor'ic adj., folk'lor'ish adj., folk'lor'ist n., folk'lor·is'tic adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Cultural Dictionary

folklore

Traditional stories and legends, transmitted orally (rather than in writing) from generation to generation. The stories of Paul Bunyan are examples of American folklore.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

folklore 
1846, coined by antiquarian William J. Thoms (1803-85) as an Anglo-Saxonism (replacing popular antiquaries) and first published in the "Athenaeum" of Aug. 22, 1846, from folk + lore. This word revived folk in a modern sense of "of the common people, whose culture is handed down orally," and opened up a flood of compound formations, eg. folk art (1921), folk-hero (1899), folk-medicine (1898), folk-tale (1891), folk-song (1847), folk-dance (1912). Folk-music is from 1889; in reference to the branch of modern popular music (originally associated with Greenwich Village in New York City) it dates from 1958.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see folkloristic on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us: