allegory

UK/ˈælɪɡəɹi/US/ˈæləˌɡɔɹi/

nounC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,428 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: allegories

An allegory is a story whose whole meaning lies beneath the surface. A political allegory, read it as allegory, an allegory of the soul.

Every element stands for something, which is what makes it more than a story with a moral — Animal Farm is an allegory and a fable with a lesson is not. Readers find allegory where none was intended, and authors deny it constantly. Note that the Greek means speaking otherwise.

Definitions of allegory

1nounallegoryA story whose whole meaning lies beneath the surface.C2
“Animal Farm is an allegory of the Russian Revolution.”

allegory is a form of story.

Remember it

The Greek parts are other and speaking: to speak in public and mean something else. An allegory is a story that means something else all the way through.

hooks ontospeak

Where it comes from

Greek allegoria is allos, other, plus a word about speaking in public — speaking otherwise. Alias and agora come from the two halves.

Proto-Indo-European
*h₂el- — beyond; other
Ancient Greek
ᾰ̓λληγορῐ́ᾱ — figurative or metaphorical language
Latin
allēgoria — figurative or metaphorical language, allegory; parable
Middle French
allegorie — narrative with a hidden meaning; such a meaning or its interpretation
Anglo-Norman
allegorie
Middle English
allegorie — symbolic interpretation; symbolism; (Christianity) one of the four methods of interpreting the Bible
English, today
allegory

Built from

ἀλληγορος · Ancient Greek — allegorical
ᾰ̓́λλος · Ancient Greek — another; different
ἀγορεύω · Ancient Greek — to speak in the assembly; to say, speak
ᾰ̓γορᾱ́ · Ancient Greek — assembly; assembly place; market place; speech

The is derived from Late Middle English allegorie (“symbolic interpretation; symbolism; (Christianity) one of the four methods of interpreting the Bible”) + English -y. Allegorie is borrowed from Anglo-Norman allegorie and Middle French allegorie (“narrative with a hidden meaning; such a meaning or its interpretation”) (modern French allégorie), and directly from their Latin allēgoria (“figurative or metaphorical language, allegory; parable”) (whence Latin allēgoria (“allegorical interpretation of the Bible”)), from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓λληγορῐ́ᾱ (“figurative or metaphorical language”), probably from ἀλληγορος (“allegorical”) (though only attested in Byzantine Greek) + -ῐ́ᾱ. Ἀλληγορος is derived from ᾰ̓́λλος (“another; different”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₂el- (“beyond; other”)) + ἠγόρ- + -ος; and ἀγορεύω from ᾰ̓γορᾱ́ (“assembly; assembly place; market place; speech”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₂ger- (“flock, herd; to gather”)) + -εύω. The is derived from the noun.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Big Ideas

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allegory in the wild

As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation intended as symbolism for something with moral or political significance.
Allegory
The allegory is presented after the analogy of the Sun and the analogy of the divided line.
Allegory of the cave
Socrates remarks that this allegory can be paired with previous writings, namely the analogy of the Sun and the analogy of the divided line.
Allegory of the cave
The AV Club described Ghosts as an allegory for Jackson's life and pop culture status.
Michael Jackson's Ghosts
Many art historians think that it is an allegory of painting, hence the alternative title of the painting.
The Art of Painting

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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