allegory
English
editEtymology
editFrom Middle English allegorie, from Old French allegorie, from Latin allēgoria, from Ancient Greek ἀλληγορία (allēgoría), from ἄλλος (állos, “other”) ἀγορεύω (agoreúō, “I speak”).
Pronunciation
editNoun
editallegory (countable and uncountable, plural allegories)
- (rhetoric) A narrative in which a character, place, or event is used to deliver a broader message about real-world issues and occurrences.
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter III, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, pages 30–31:
- Ah! the Roman emperor, who desired that his slavery might be alleviated by his fetters being made of gold, was a very rational person. I have always considered it an allegory, showing the necessity of marrying for money.
- A picture, book, or other form of communication using such representation.
- A symbolic representation which can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, usually a moral or political one.
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter I, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 11:
- There were casts of the Gladiator—he whose native courage struggled against the doom which was yet welcome—a mournful allegory of honour.
- (mathematics, category theory) A category that retains some of the structure of the category of binary relations between sets, representing a high-level generalisation of that category.
Derived terms
editRelated terms
editTranslations
editthe representation of abstract principles
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communication using such representation
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symbolic representation
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
See also
editCategories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
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- English lemmas
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- en:Rhetoric
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