folklore

Noun

folklore (countable and uncountable, plural folklores)

1. The tales, legends, superstitions, and traditions of a particular ethnic population.
   • [T]here is no true American music but the wild sweet melodies of the Negro slave; the American fairy tales and folk-lore are Indian and African; and, all in all, we black men seem the sole oasis of simple faith and reverence in a dusty desert of dollars and smartness.1903 April 18, W[illiam] E[dward] Burghardt Du Bois, “Of Our Spiritual Strivings”, in The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., →OCLC, pages...
   • Why has not England a great mythology? Our folklore has never advanced beyond daintiness, and the greater melodies about our country-side have all issued through the pipes of Greece.1908–1910 (date written; published 1910 October 18), E[dward] M[organ] Forster, chapter 33, in Howards End, London: Edward Arnold, →OCLC
2. (broadly) The tales, superstitions etc. of any particular group or community.
   • A selection of longer items of hacker folklore and humor is included in Appendix A, Hacker Folklore.1996, Eric S. Raymond, The New Hacker's Dictionary, 3rd edition, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 3
   • Foxes boss Rodgers had a smile that illuminated Wembley as he joined Leicester's players in joyous scenes of celebration after the manager and his players had written their name into the club's folklore.2021 May, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 0 – 1 Leicester”, in BBC Sport
3. (slang) The collective of proofs or techniques which are widely known among mathematicians, but have never been formally published.