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fable
[ fey-buhl ]
/ ˈfeɪ bəl /
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noun
verb (used without object), fa·bled, fa·bling.
to tell or write fables.
to speak falsely; lie: to fable about one's past.
verb (used with object), fa·bled, fa·bling.
to describe as if actually so; talk about as if true: She is fabled to be the natural daughter of a king.
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Origin of fable
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English fable, fabel, fabul, from Anglo-French, Old French, from Latin fābula “a story, tale,” equivalent to fā(rī) “to speak” + -bula suffix of instrument
synonym study for fable
1. See legend.
historical usage of fable
Fable comes via French from Latin fābula “talk, conversation, gossip or the subject of gossip, a story for entertainment or instruction, a fable.” The plural fābulae is used as an interjection meaning “nonsense! rubbish!”; the idiom lupus in fābulā, literally “the wolf in the fable,” is the equivalent of our “speak of the devil.” The derivative verb fābulārī “to talk, chat” is especially common in the comedies of Plautus and Terence.
Fābulārī, regularized to fābulāre, is the source of Spanish hablar and Portuguese falar “to speak.” Catalan, however, always influenced by French, uses parlar. French parler and Italian parlare are verbs derived from the Latin noun parabola “comparison, explanatory illustration,” in Late Latin (and especially in Christian Latin) “allegorical story, parable, proverb.”
Parabola becomes parola “word” in Italian, parole in French, paraula in Catalan. And by metathesis (transposition of letters) common in Spanish and Portuguese, parabola becomes parabla in Old Spanish, palabra in Spanish, and palavra in Portuguese.
The related English word fib “a small or trivial lie” is a shortening of earlier fibble-fable “nonsense,” an obsolete or dialectal compound based on fable, in the sense “a story not founded in fact.”
Fābulārī, regularized to fābulāre, is the source of Spanish hablar and Portuguese falar “to speak.” Catalan, however, always influenced by French, uses parlar. French parler and Italian parlare are verbs derived from the Latin noun parabola “comparison, explanatory illustration,” in Late Latin (and especially in Christian Latin) “allegorical story, parable, proverb.”
Parabola becomes parola “word” in Italian, parole in French, paraula in Catalan. And by metathesis (transposition of letters) common in Spanish and Portuguese, parabola becomes parabla in Old Spanish, palabra in Spanish, and palavra in Portuguese.
The related English word fib “a small or trivial lie” is a shortening of earlier fibble-fable “nonsense,” an obsolete or dialectal compound based on fable, in the sense “a story not founded in fact.”
OTHER WORDS FROM fable
fa·bler, nounout·fa·ble, verb (used with object), out·fa·bled, out·fa·bling.un·fa·bling, adjectiveWords nearby fable
Fabian, Fabianism, Fabian Society, Fabian tactics, Fabius Maximus, fable, fabled, fabliau, Fablon, Fabre, fabric
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use fable in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for fable
fable
/ (ˈfeɪbəl) /
noun
verb
Derived forms of fable
fabler, nounWord Origin for fable
C13: from Latin fābula story, narrative, from fārī to speak, say
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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