Where does “folktale” come from?
Folktale derives from English folk, from Middle English folk, from Old English folc meaning "people" or "multitude," from Proto-Germanic fulką, from Proto-Indo-European pleh₁- meaning "to fill."
folktale (English): A tale or story that is part of the oral...
Definitions
- A tale or story that is part of the oral...
Ancestry of “folktale”, step by step
folktale traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English folk
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | folk | Of or pertaining to the inhabitants of a land,... |
| 2 | German | volk | people, nation, folk, tribe, race group united by culture, history, descent, and/or language |
| 3 | Middle High German | volc | — |
| 4 | Old High German | folc | folk; people collectively, nation; people, nation |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | folk | people, tribe |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | fulką | people; tribe |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pleh₁- | to fill |
via English tale
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | tale | An account of an asserted fact or circumstance; a... |
| 2 | Middle English | tale | personal narrative, account |
| 3 | Old English | talu | account, reckoning; tale; narration |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *talu | narration, report |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | talō | narration, report; assessment, judgment;... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | del- | to aim, calculate, adjust, count; to reckon,... |