What does fairy tale mean?
Definitions for fairy tale
fai·ry tale
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word fairy tale.
Princeton's WordNet
fairytale, fairy tale, fairy storynoun
a story about fairies; told to amuse children
fairytale, fairy tale, fairy story, cock-and-bull story, song and dancenoun
an interesting but highly implausible story; often told as an excuse
GCIDE
fairy talenoun
a story about magical or mythological creatures, such as fairies, elves, goblins, trolls, orcs, unicorns, wizards, dragons, etc., usually composed for the amusement of children; called also a fairy story.
fairy talenoun
a false story intended to deceive or mislead, especially one involving unlikely events or situations; called also a fairy story.
Wiktionary
fairy talenoun
A folktale featuring fairies or similar fantasy characters.
Wikipedia
Fairy tale
A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cultures, there is no clear line separating myth from folk or fairy tale; all these together form the literature of preliterate societies. Fairy tales may be distinguished from other folk narratives such as legends (which generally involve belief in the veracity of the events described) and explicit moral tales, including beast fables. In less technical contexts, the term is also used to describe something blessed with unusual happiness, as in "fairy-tale ending" (a happy ending) or "fairy-tale romance". Colloquially, the term "fairy tale" or "fairy story" can also mean any far-fetched story or tall tale; it is used especially of any story that not only is not true, but could not possibly be true. Legends are perceived as real within their culture; fairy tales may merge into legends, where the narrative is perceived both by teller and hearers as being grounded in historical truth. However, unlike legends and epics, fairy tales usually do not contain more than superficial references to religion and to actual places, people, and events; they take place "once upon a time" rather than in actual times.Fairy tales occur both in oral and in literary form; the name "fairy tale" ("conte de fées" in French) was first ascribed to them by Madame d'Aulnoy in the late 17th century. Many of today's fairy tales have evolved from centuries-old stories that have appeared, with variations, in multiple cultures around the world.The history of the fairy tale is particularly difficult to trace because only the literary forms can survive. Still, according to researchers at universities in Durham and Lisbon, such stories may date back thousands of years, some to the Bronze Age. Fairy tales, and works derived from fairy tales, are still written today. The Jatakas are probably the oldest collection of such tales in literature, and the greater part of the rest are demonstrably more than a thousand years old. It is certain that much (perhaps one~fifth) of the popular literature of modern Europe is derived from those portions of this large bulk which came west with the Crusades through the medium of Arabs and Jews.Folklorists have classified fairy tales in various ways. The Aarne-Thompson classification system and the morphological analysis of Vladimir Propp are among the most notable. Other folklorists have interpreted the tales' significance, but no school has been definitively established for the meaning of the tales.
ChatGPT
fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features various characters such as fairies, magical creatures, witches, goblins, elves, and even animals or objects with magical powers. These stories often contain an element of enchantment or surrealism and convey morals or ethical codes. Most fairy tales also follow a plot structure involving a problem or conflict, a journey or quest, and a resolution, typically with a happy ending. They are part of the oral tradition, historically passed down from generation to generation, and are often adapted for children's literature.
Wikidata
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features folkloric fantasy characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants, mermaids, or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. Fairy tales may be distinguished from other folk narratives such as legends and explicitly moral tales, including beast fables. In less technical contexts, the term is also used to describe something blessed with unusual happiness, as in "fairy tale ending" or "fairy tale romance". Colloquially, a "fairy tale" or "fairy story" can also mean any farfetched story or tall tale; it's used especially of any story that not only isn't true, but couldn't possibly be true. In cultures where demons and witches are perceived as real, fairy tales may merge into legends, where the narrative is perceived both by teller and hearers as being grounded in historical truth. However, unlike legends and epics, they usually do not contain more than superficial references to religion and actual places, people, and events; they take place once upon a time rather than in actual times.
Suggested Resources
fairy tale
Read the full text of the Fairy Tale poem by Boris Pasternak on the Poetry.com website.
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of fairy tale in Chaldean Numerology is: 8
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of fairy tale in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7
Examples of fairy tale in a Sentence
The world is a fairy tale; we are its guardians.
Cappadocia is like something out of a fairy tale, a settlement where underground cities were carved out thousands of years ago.
I think Americans would love to have a royal family, they're all about celebrity -- the Kennedys and Camelot, the fairy tale. But it doesn't always play out like that, does it? There's deaths, divorces, scandal. I'd say it was more like 'The Game of Thrones.'.
This is a very horse-driven family, diana didn’t go well with horses. That was the beginning of that fairy tale not ending terribly well. Sophie, Countess of Wessex who is married to the queen’s youngest son, had to learn how to ride. You have to like horses to ride with the queen. And so much of the royal diary is built around the equestrian world… One of the most important events from the queen’s diary for the whole year is the Royal Windsor Horse Show. And that will be happening on the weekend before the royal wedding… The queen has never, ever missed it. It’s really important to her.
Two forces create eternity – a fairy tale and a dream from the fairy tale.
Translations for fairy tale
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- sprokieAfrikaans
- قصة خرافية, خرافة, حكاية رمزية, أسطورةArabic
- nağılAzerbaijani
- әкиәтBashkir
- ка́зкаBelarusian
- при́казкаBulgarian
- পরী কাহিনীBengali
- conte de fadesCatalan, Valencian
- pohádkaCzech
- eventyrDanish
- Märchen, FabelGerman
- παραμύθιGreek
- fabeloEsperanto
- cuento de hadas, cuento de fadasSpanish
- muinasjuttEstonian
- افسانهPersian
- satuFinnish
- conte de fées, conte de féeFrench
- परियों की कहानी, परी कथाHindi
- tündérmese, meseHungarian
- հեքիաթArmenian
- dongengIndonesian
- ævintýriIcelandic
- fiaba, favola, folaItalian
- 童話, 民話, 昔話, 神話, お伽話Japanese
- ზღაპარიGeorgian
- ертекKazakh
- ទេពនិទានKhmer
- 동화Korean
- жомок, жөө жомокKyrgyz
- fabula, fabula mirabilis, fabula divalisLatin
- MäerchenLuxembourgish, Letzeburgesch
- ນິທານLao
- pasakaLithuanian
- pasakaLatvian
- ба́јка, при́казна, ска́знаMacedonian
- шидэт үлгэрMongolian
- dongengMalay
- बालकथाNepali
- sprookjeDutch
- eventyrNorwegian
- аргъауOssetian, Ossetic
- baśń, bajkaPolish
- conto de fadasPortuguese
- basmRomanian
- при́тча, ба́сня, миф, ска́зка, леге́нда, ба́йкаRussian
- бајка, bajkaSerbo-Croatian
- rozprávkaSlovak
- pravljicaSlovene
- përrallëAlbanian
- sagaSwedish
- hadithi ya vichimbakaziSwahili
- қисса, афсона, маталTajik
- เทพนิยายThai
- ertekiTurkmen
- peri masalı, masalTurkish
- әкиятTatar
- ка́зкаUkrainian
- ertakUzbek
- đồng thoại, truyện cổ tích, chuyện cổ tíchVietnamese
- märVolapük
- 童话Chinese
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"fairy tale." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/fairy+tale>.
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