Shobdo Logo
ODEfabliau

fabliau

Flag: gbEnglishOxford Dictionary of English

fabliau /ˈfabliəʊ /
noun
(plural fabliaux /ˈfablɪəʊz/)
a metrical tale, typically a bawdily humorous one, of a type found chiefly in early French poetry:
one may dispute that the French fabliaux are pornographic
[as modifier] a distinctive feature of fabliau language.
– ORIGIN from Old French (Picard dialect) fabliaux, plural of fablel short fable, diminutive of fable.