folk song
Americannoun
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a song originating among the people of a country or area, passed by oral tradition from one singer or generation to the next, often existing in several versions, and marked generally by simple, modal melody and stanzaic, narrative verse.
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a song of similar character written by a known composer.
noun
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a song of which the music and text have been handed down by oral tradition among the common people
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a modern song which employs or reflects the folk idiom
Etymology
Origin of folk song
First recorded in 1865–70
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
On a typical day, an American family would be more likely to entertain itself at home by singing traditional folk songs like “Barbara Allen,” patriotic songs such as “Yankee Doodle” or hymns like “Amazing Grace.”
There is an album of Christmas songs, once invariably bestsellers for singers of all ranges, as well as a set of old Dutch folk songs.
The research team began reviewing folk songs, poems, and myths written or performed in Marathi, some dating back to the 13th century.
From Science Daily
Those bearing the structures often gyrate to the beat provided by percussionists alongside religious chants and devotional folk songs.
From Barron's
Ever the eager pedagogue, as played with buoyant energy by Mr. Morse, Beckett annotates her performance: “Haydn based that movement of the symphony on a folk song. From Croatia.”
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
