fairytale

Word family

• fairy
  nounA2
• tale
  nounB1
• fairy-tale
  adjectiveB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four terms describe traditional narratives, but they differ in content and cultural function. A fairytale is a fictional children's story involving magic, enchanted beings, and usually a happy ending — for example, Cinderella or Snow White. A folk tale is a broader category: any story passed down orally within a community, which may or may not include magic. A fable is a short story, typically with animal characters that speak and act like humans, designed to teach a clear moral lesson (e.g., The Tortoise and the Hare). A legend is a semi-historical narrative about heroic people or events that may have some basis in fact, such as the story of Robin Hood. A myth is a traditional story that explains natural phenomena, cultural customs, or religious beliefs, often involving gods and supernatural forces — for example, Greek myths about Zeus and Athena. In practice, a fairytale is always fictional and magical, while myths and legends were sometimes believed to be true by the cultures that created them.

Common collocations

Etymology

The word combines 'fairy' (from Old French 'faerie,' meaning 'enchantment' or 'the land of fairies') with 'tale' (from Old English 'talu,' meaning 'story' or 'narrative'). The two-word phrase 'fairy tale' first appeared in English in the mid-1700s, used to describe the magical folk stories collected and published by writers such as Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm. Over the following centuries, the phrase was increasingly written as a single closed compound, 'fairytale,' especially in British English. The figurative sense ('an unlikely or exaggerated story') developed in the early 1900s.