Folklore
/ˈfoʊk.lɔːr/noun
The traditional beliefs, customs, stories, and practices of a people, passed down informally.
Did you know?The word was coined in 1846 by English antiquary William Thoms as a deliberate scholarly replacement for older phrases like “popular antiquities,” turning oral tradition into a named field of knowledge.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*pleh₂-
“to fill, be full”
Old English
OE
folc
“people, tribe, nation”
Old English
OE
lār
“teaching, doctrine, instruction”
1846
English
folklore
“Thoms’s newly coined term for traditional beliefs, stories, and customs of the people”
Modern English
English
folklore
“the traditional beliefs, customs, stories, and practices of a community”