Standard Lemma guide

fabliau

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A short, farcical, often bawdy tale of a genre written in the North of France in the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Old French fabliau, diminutive of fable.

Across languages

Translations

13 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bourguignon: fableâ — short farcical tale
  • Bulgarian: фаблио́ (fablió) — short farcical tale
  • Catalan: fabliau — short farcical tale
  • Czech: fabliau — short farcical tale
  • Dutch: fabliau — short farcical tale
  • French: fabliau — short farcical tale
  • Old French: fabliau — short farcical tale
  • German: Fabliau — short farcical tale
  • Italian: fabliau — short farcical tale
  • Polish: fabliau — short farcical tale
  • Portuguese: fabliau — short farcical tale
  • Russian: фаблио́ (fablió) — short farcical tale
  • Swedish: fabliau — short farcical tale