fabliau

[ fab-lee-oh; French fa-blee-oh ]

/ ˈfæb liˌoʊ; French fa bliˈoʊ /

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noun, plural fab·li·aux

[fab-lee-ohz; French fa-blee-oh]. /ˈfæb liˌoʊz; French fa bliˈoʊ/.

a short metrical tale, usually ribald and humorous, popular in medieval France.

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Origin of fabliau

1795–1805; <French; Old North French form of Old French fablel, fableau, equivalent to fablefable + -el diminutive suffix; see -elle

Words nearby fabliau

Fabian Society, Fabian tactics, Fabius Maximus, fable, fabled, fabliau, Fablon, Fabre, fabric, fabricable, fabricant

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use fabliau in a sentence

In the Fabliau de Gautier dAupais there is mention of un vert mantel porprine (a mantle of green crimson).
Chaucer for Children|Mrs. H. R. Haweis
And it is important to repeat that it connects itself in the general literary survey both with fabliau and with allegory.
The Flourishing of Romance and the Rise of Allegory|George Saintsbury
This, which is not so much a branch as an independent fabliau, is attributed to Rutebœuf, v. infra.
The Flourishing of Romance and the Rise of Allegory|George Saintsbury
In the opinion of the best scholars, the earliest surviving fabliau is that of Richeut, which dates from 1159.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 1|Various

It is a mistake to suppose, as is frequently done, that every legend of the middle ages is a fabliau.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 1|Various

British Dictionary definitions for fabliau

fabliau

/ (ˈfæblɪˌəʊ, French fɑblijo) /

noun plural fabliaux (ˈfæblɪˌəʊz, French fɑblijo)

a comic usually ribald verse tale, of a kind popular in France in the 12th and 13th centuries

Word Origin for fabliau

C19: from French: a little tale, from fable tale

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012