Definition of fable Fable

/fejˈbʌl/ - [feybul] - fa•ble

We found 17 definitions of fable from 6 different sources.

What does fable mean?

Noun Plural: fables
fable - a short moral story (often with animal characters)
		parable, allegory, apologue
		story a piece of fiction that narrates a chain of related events; "he writes stories for the magazines"
		aesop's fables a collection of fables believed to have been written by the Greek storyteller Aesop
fable - a story about mythical or supernatural beings or events
		legend
		story a piece of fiction that narrates a chain of related events; "he writes stories for the magazines"
		arthurian legend the legend of King Arthur and his court at Camelot
fable - a deliberately false or improbable account
		fabrication, fiction
		untruth, falsehood, falsity a false statement

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fable (Noun)
A fictitious narration intended to enforce some useful truth or precept, usually with animals, birds etc as characters; an apologue. Prototypically, Aesop's Fables .
fable (Noun)
Any story told to excite wonder; common talk; the theme of talk.
fable (Noun)
Fiction; untruth; falsehood.
fable (Verb)
To compose fables; hence, to write or speak fiction ; to write or utter what is not true.
fable (Verb)
To feign; to invent; to devise, and speak of, as true or real; to tell of falsely.

fable (n.)
A Feigned story or tale, intended to instruct or amuse; a fictitious narration intended to enforce some useful truth or precept; an apologue. See the Note under Apologue.
fable (n.)
The plot, story, or connected series of events, forming the subject of an epic or dramatic poem.
fable (n.)
Any story told to excite wonder; common talk; the theme of talk.
fable (n.)
Fiction; untruth; falsehood.
fable (v. i.)
To compose fables; hence, to write or speak fiction ; to write or utter what is not true.
fable (v. t.)
To feign; to invent; to devise, and speak of, as true or real; to tell of falsely.

fable
fā′bl, n. a narrative in which things irrational, and sometimes inanimate, are, for the purpose of moral instruction, feigned to act and speak with human interests and passions: any tale in literary form, not necessarily probable in its incidents, intended to instruct or amuse: the plot or series of events in an epic or dramatic poem: a fiction or myth: a ridiculous story, as in 'old wives' fables,' a falsehood: subject of common talk.—v.i. to tell fictitious tales: (obs.) to tell falsehoods.—v.t. to feign: to invent.—p.adj. Fā′bled, mythical.—n. Fā′bler, a writer or narrator of fictions.—adj. Fab′ular.—v.i. Fab′ulīse, to write fables, or to speak in fables.—ns. Fab′ulist, one who invents fables; Fabulos′ity, Fab′ulousness.—adj. Fab′ulous, feigned, false: related in fable: immense, amazing.—adv. Fab′ulously. [Fr. fable—L. fabula, fāri, to speak.]

A fable is a type of short story which teaches a lesson or carries a moral, which is usually stated at the end. The characters of a fable may be people, gods, animals or even lifeless objects. When animals and objects are used in fables, they think and talk like people, even though they act like animals or objects. For example, in a fable a clay pot might say that it is frightened of being broken.

The stories told by fables are usually very simple. To understand a fable, the reader or listener doesn't need to know all about the characters, only one important thing. For this reason animals are often used in fables in a way that is easily understood because it is always the same. They keep the same "characteristics" from story to story.

The most famous fables are those attributed to Aesop (6th century B.C.). Many fables are so well-known that their morals have become English sayings.

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fable in sign language