fabled

Fabled is an adjective meaning widely known from or celebrated in fables, legends, or myths, or described as famous in stories. It is used to indicate that a subject belongs to traditional storytelling, or to suggest that something is legendary or reputed in a narrative sense. In modern usage, it can describe both mythical or extraordinary status and places or items that are widely discussed in folklore.

As a modifier, fabled typically precedes a noun, as in the fabled city of Atlantis or the fabled unicorn. It can also be used predicatively, as in the city is fabled in myths. The term sometimes carries a nuance of skepticism about factuality, signaling that the claim exists within a narrative tradition even if its truth cannot be established.

Etymology traces fabled to Middle English fabel, from Old French fable, and ultimately from Latin fabula meaning story or tale. The form has appeared in English since the 14th century and remains common in literary and journalistic prose.

In usage, fabled is often near-synonymous with legendary or mythical when describing subjects of myth, and with storied or famed when highlighting cultural prominence. It is distinct from fable, which denotes a short narrative designed to teach a moral; fabled refers to the subject’s place in that tradition rather than to the act of telling the story. See also myth, legend, folklore.