In Italian folklore, a mischievous household spirit or elf-like creature that plays tricks, hides objects, or causes minor chaos in homes.
From Italian 'folletto,' possibly from Latin 'follis' (fool, bag, or jester) or from Germanic sources meaning spirit. The term has been part of Italian folklore for centuries.
Every culture invents household spirits like the Italian folletto to explain everyday mysteries—you lose your keys, blame the folletto; a glass breaks overnight, it was the folletto. These creatures are psychology before we had the word psychology: ways to externalize human forgetfulness and clumsiness.
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