fable

C2+ Topic:Literature & Storytelling

US /ˈfeɪbəl/ UK /ˈfeɪbəl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a short tale conveying a moral, often with animal characters

The fable of the tortoise and the hare teaches patience.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a short tale conveying a... parable allegory tale myth legend apologue fiction

Opposites

fact history truth

Word family

Derived forms fabledfablerfabulism

Related forms fabulist fabulous confabulate

Appears in

Proverbs (1)

See all

History is a fable agreed upon

Etymology

From Old French fable, from Latin fabula ('story, tale'), from fari ('to speak'), from Proto-Indo-European *bha- ('to speak').

fabula Latin fari Latin *bha- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Literature & Storytelling Animals

External links

# fable

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈfeɪbəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈfeɪbəl/

## Meanings
1. a short tale conveying a moral, often with animal characters

## Examples
- The fable of the tortoise and the hare teaches patience.

## Synonyms
- parable
- allegory
- tale
- myth
- legend
- apologue
- fiction

## Antonyms
- fact
- history
- truth

## Derived Forms
- fabled
- fabler
- fabulism

## Related Forms
- fabulist
- fabulous
- confabulate

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: fabula
- Root: fari
- Root: *bha-

## Etymology
From Old French fable, from Latin fabula ('story, tale'), from fari ('to speak'), from Proto-Indo-European *bha- ('to speak').

## AI Etymology
Fable is from Old French fable, from Latin fabula ('story, tale'), from fari ('to speak'), from Proto-Indo-European *bha- ('to speak'). Important recorded forms include fabula (Latin), fari (Latin), and *bha- (Proto-Indo-European). The current sense covers a short tale conveying a moral, often with animal characters. The wider family includes derived forms such as fabled and fabler and related words such as fabulist, fabulous, and confabulate.

## Topics
- Literature & Storytelling
- Animals

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