#folklore

• Traditional charm — A rare regional term, recorded in some Romanian rural communities, used to denote a charm, a magical formula for driving away evil spirits, or an empirical practice to remove the evil eye and mild psychic ailments. In cultural anthropology studies, the word reflects the traditional psychological mechanisms through which archaic communities sought to restore the emotional and mental balance of an individual affected by fears.
• To lull — A rare regional term or archaic onomatopoeic form used in traditional rural communities, with the primary meaning of sheltering, rocking, or soothing an infant through repetitive vocalizations, often associated with sleeping or protective rituals. In certain micro-dialectal contexts, the verb also suggests a gentle blowing or whispering breeze, reflecting popular expressive speech meant to describe soft, hypnotic, and nurturing domestic movements.
• Aca de Barbu — An archaic popular designation or regional mythological character from Romanian vernacular beliefs, sometimes associated in incantations, rural superstitions, or folk tales with a local authoritarian figure (such as a reeve or a local boyar named Barbu) or with a traditional instrument of measurement or punishment. In some regions, the phrase is preserved as a collective nickname or saying referring to a harsh, yet often ridiculous or outdated order.
• Acacia blossoms — A popular regional name attributed to the fragrant, drooping inflorescences of the black locust tree or flower clusters belonging to certain climbing plants; acacia blossoms. In old rural communities, the term was utilized in its plural form to describe the abundance of white flowers hanging gracefully from tree canopies, heavily gathered in spring for medicinal virtues or traditional jams.
• Deal-sealing drink — A traditional Romanian custom consisting of offering a treat (usually drink or food) by the buyer to the seller and witnesses, to seal and celebrate the conclusion of a commercial transaction (especially the sale of animals or land); the drink offered on this occasion. This structural ritual holds a symbolic value of socially confirming the deal, marking the binding nature of the unwritten contract.
• Adam-Babadam — A regional, archaic, or legendary toponymic formula used in certain micro-regions of southeastern Romania to designate a remote, isolated place or an ancient settlement with obscure origins; also used in popular fairy tales as a compound proper name attributed to a mythological character or a giant from the beginning of time. This structural term retains nuances of traditional onomastics influenced by Turkish and Balkan lexicons.
• Enticement — The act of enticing and its result; an archaic or regional form for the process of enticing, consisting of attracting, deceiving, or seducing a person or animal using baits, gifts, or flattering words. This structural phenomenon of mild psychological manipulation is documented in old writings and rural local dialects.
• Adonoaia — A rare term originating from archaic layers of language or sacred onomastics, sometimes used regionally to denote a solemn form of address or a folkloric personification related to divinity. Its deep meaning refers to local linguistic adaptations of the divine name or female mythological figures in rural popular narratives.
• Gathering up act — The act of gathering up or piling and its dynamic outcome; the rural process of collecting, stacking, or building hay and agricultural products into ricks. Secondarily, it represents an archaic phonetic variant of the word 'adiere' (breeze), denoting the soft, gentle, and cool blowing of the wind across an open landscape. It is an action noun preserved exclusively in spoken folklore and dialectal monographs of north-western Transylvania.
• Aesacus — A character in Greek and Roman mythology, son of King Priam of Troy and the nymph Alexirhoe, endowed with the prophetic gift of interpreting nocturnal dreams. According to Ovid's Metamorphoses, driven by grief over the death of the nymph Hesperia, whom he loved, he threw himself into the sea waves and was transformed by the goddess Tethys into a diving bird (diver / cormorant).
• Aesculapius — The Latinized name of Asclepius, the god of medicine and healing in Greek and Roman mythology, son of Apollo and Coronis. In a symbolic or literary contextual sense, the term designates a legendary physician or a skilled healer, the god's name being tightly linked to the staff entwined by a snake (Rod of Asclepius), which became the structural universal symbol of medical and pharmaceutical sciences.
• Aeson — A character in Greek mythology, legendary king of Iolcus in Thessaly, son of Cretheus and Tyro, and father of the hero Jason. According to the legend, his half-brother Pelias usurped his throne, forcing him into isolation, and later, in the famous account from Ovid's Metamorphoses, the sorceress Medea restored his youth through a complex magical structural rejuvenation ritual.
• Aethalides — A character in Greek mythology, son of the god Hermes and Eupolemeia, the legendary herald of the Argonauts during the quest for the Golden Fleece. He was endowed by his father with an absolutely infallible and eternal structural memory, which did not fade even after death or after crossing the river Lethe, allowing his soul to remember all successive reincarnations undergone during its cosmic migration.
• Aethra — The Latinized name of Aethra, a character in Greek mythology, daughter of King Pittheus of Troezen and mother of the Athenian hero Theseus (born from her union with King Aegeus or the god Poseidon). In a historical and literary sense, her name is linked to epic episodes where she was captured by the Dioscuri and turned into a slave of Helen of Troy, accompanying her throughout the famous Trojan War.
• Aetites — A historical, mythological, or archaic name given to limonite geodes or brown hematite, popularly known as the 'eagle stone'. In ancient superstitions and medical treatises (such as those of Pliny the Elder), it was structurally believed that these hollow rocks, containing a loose internal nodule that rattles when shaken, were found in eagles' nests and possessed magical properties for protecting pregnancies and facilitating childbirth.
• Aetolus — A character in Greek mythology, legendary king of Elis, son of Endymion and a nymph, considered the eponymous hero and structural founder of the Aetolia region in Central Greece. According to the legend, after accidentally killing Apis during funeral games, he was exiled from the Peloponnese and fled across the Gulf of Corinth, where he conquered the territory that bears his name, giving rise to the Aetolian tribe.
• Afanasiev — A proper surname of Russian origin, renowned globally due to Aleksandr Afanasiev (1826–1871), the preeminent Russian folklorist, regarded as the Slavic equivalent of the Brothers Grimm. He compiled and published a monumental collection of over 600 Russian fairy tales and folk legends, saving masterpieces of oral tradition from oblivion and founding modern ethnographic studies in the Slavic world.
• Tiny bilberry — An affectionate diminutive or regional Romanian term used to designate a small, round, and well-ripened bilberry fruit. The term belongs to popular folklore and dialectal lexicons used by mountain communities for tiny, sweet hand-picked forest berries.
• Found — 1. Discovered, found, or known following a search, investigation, or chance event. 2. Located, situated, or positioned within a specific geographic, administrative, or emotional context. 3. As a neuter noun (in folklore), a traditional magical practice of divination or predicting the future.
• Folk divination — A popular articulated regional variant of 'aflatul', used in Romanian villages to designate a divination ritual, magical custom, or traditional practice of predicting the future. Performed during sacred nights, it was used by young girls to discover their future husband.